Xiao Yang / credit: Josh Elston
Xiao Yang, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and a 2016 graduate of the college, displayed her work “Made In Power” in one of New York City’s largest annual outdoor installations of artwork.
Showcasing installations and performances along the entire 2.2-mile length of 14th Street in Manhattan, Art in Odd Places “presented artists who seek to critique the mythos of the American Dream and the history of American politics” from May 14-16.
A rendering of “Made in Power”
In “Made In Power,” an early 1990s desktop printer produces a scroll-like stream of pages from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which feeds directly into a paper shredder below; the installation is surrounded by yellow crime scene tape and encased in the clear fiberglass.
The piece is a response to the pandemic—and meant to foster a dialogue around the social injustices the global crisis laid bare, said Yang.
“It doesn’t matter what skin color anyone has, all humans deserve to have a voice,” she said, in an Instagram Live feed from the event.
“This is a metaphor for our voices being shredded by our social structures,” Yang added.
In its sixteenth year, Art in Odd Places is staged outdoors as a reminder that “public spaces function as the epicenter for diverse social interactions and the unfettered exchange of ideas,” according to its website.
An interdisciplinary artist based in Buffalo, Yang teaches figure drawing at Daemen and has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and Asia.