{"id":489062,"date":"2021-08-31T17:04:49","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T21:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=489062"},"modified":"2023-05-17T10:44:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T14:44:00","slug":"jay-yan-mural-sloan-performing-arts-center-489062","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/jay-yan-mural-sloan-performing-arts-center-489062\/","title":{"rendered":"Mosaic graces walls of new River Campus performance space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles-based Chinese American artist Jay Yan installed an original mural in the University\u2019s Sloan Performing Arts Center.<\/h2>\n

Mural for Two Walls<\/em>, a mosaic by artist Jay Yan, is the newest public art commissioned by the University of Rochester<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The work appears in the entrance of the University\u2019s new Sloan Performing Arts Center<\/a>, a 30,000-square-foot, three-story building on the River Campus dedicated to creative expression through theater, dance, and music.<\/p>\n

\"Multicolored
The individual discs of the mural are\u00a0folded to reflect and shine in different ways as visitors approach from various angles. (Courtesy Jay Yan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe most difficult part of selecting a public work for a space like this is finding one that is audacious enough to prompt conversation but not so much so that it meddles with the function of the facility,\u201d says Allen Topolski, an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History<\/a> who served as a member of the selection committee.<\/p>\n

In Yan, the selection committee found a talent whose creative vision fit the bill.<\/p>\n

\"Overhead
Yan sorts the individual discs for the mural using a computer-generated master plan. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yan graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied media arts. For more than a decade, he has been exhibiting art installations and videos in galleries around the United States, Asia, and Europe. Yan\u2019s website<\/a> shows his range of work, from dyed fabrics to looped video installations.<\/p>\n

He was \u201cstruck\u201d by the more than 50 feet of wall space as an opportunity for a new kind of piece. \u201cIt\u2019s quite visible from a distance, and you have different levels of experience as you come closer,\u201d says Yan, who grew up in the New England area and is familiar with Upstate New York. The work is 8 feet from the ground and 62 feet wide. \u201cThis is the largest piece I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d says Yan.<\/p>\n

\"Man
Yan\u2019s friend Chris Coletta unrolls a printout of the computer-generated pattern used for the mural. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Coletta and Joe Butler, childhood friends of Yan\u2019s, traveled from Boston to work on the installation, which was meticulously planned. They arrived on site at 8 a.m. every morning from August 18 to 24, just as the River Campus welcomed new first-year students.<\/p>\n

Yan explains that the installation process involves placing a template on the wall to indicate the location of all the holes for attaching a disc that will be drilled through. \u201cAnd then we\u2019ll go through the entire wall to create a grid of holes to attach and install the artwork,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Jay
Yan and his friends drilled each of the thousands of stainless steel discs into the building\u2019s\u00a0walls. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mural comprises 7,820 mirrored discs total, with 13 different types of discs. Shipped in boxes of six, each disc came in its own sleeve to protect it from fingerprints. They were custom laser cut to their shapes and silk-screened in color, making them durable. Although computer programming contributed to the configuration of the work, the \u201ctechnology is not dominant,\u201d says Yan.<\/p>\n