Wave Fields

Maya Lin's Wave Field at Storm King

Maya Lin first known for her work as a 21 year-old for the Vietnam Memorial has always had a passion for creating new perceptions of our environment and ordering the landscape. Wave Field is a series of earthworks where Lin has mimicked the movement of water and has transposed it onto the ground. Although this work seems static in the fact that it is fixed in place, these banks of grass convey a sweeping motion throughout the sight. As one moves through the space, their position in relation to each wave changes and their visceral reaction is altered. One can sit curled in the well of the wave or stand on its crest. It is the viewer moving through the space that makes the field such a dynamic piece.


Wave Field at Ann Harbor

Another piece in Lin's series of Wave Fields, this site explores the different effects of types of waves. Here you can see there is an array of shallow waves, while at Storm King, the waves were much larger some almost ten feet tall. These investigations into the manipulation of waves and earth are fascinating ways to perceive motion and fluid dynamics.