Maya Lin: Systematic Genius

After our day at the Academy of Sciences (see below), we strolled across the plaza and kind of back-doored the de Young Museum, intending only to visit the cafeteria for an iced tea, or sumpin’, in the peace and quiet away from the throngs at the Acad. Wanting to take a look into what’s new in the gift shop we almost literally stumbled across Maya Lin’s installation “2 x 4 Landscape” which was essentially in place but not really open to the public, although how it could be hidden from view is another matter altogether. We spoke with one of the gentlemen working thereon who proved friendly and perfectly willing to chat about Ms. Lin’s work…we suspect he might have actually been the man-in-charge but he seemed more than happy to answer questions and provide personal anecdotes about the artist and her work. He was obviously proud of his connection and we provided plenty of suck-up interest to keep him talking.

Maya Lin will always be best known for her Vietnam War Memorial in DC but she has proved her subsequent worth, and genius, many times over since then. This particular installation was intriguing but to our untrained eye; probably for the wrong reason. Our main question was, holy cow, how the hell was this put together? One massive tinker toy of 2 x 4’s standing on end, it created a gorgeous wave of pungent cedar to examine and admire from a hundred angles, the natural light changing its mood and resonance. The fact that it smelled good too was just a part of the fascination. One surmises the lengths of wood are intricately measured and by some engineering feat cleverly glued together to form the overall undulating wave. Actually it’s hollow and was manufactured in various stand-alone pieces for easy transport and installation. Well, our worker-guy explained, not all that easy…but you get the gist.

This was one of three installations by Ms. Lin, called "Systematic Landscapes," at the museum but the only one visible to non-paying, tea-sipping, gift-shop-visiting passers-through. It was a nice little surprise and a privilege to be among the first to lay eyes on it.