Mnemonics | Kristin Jones & Adam Ginzel

A mnemonic device is a method that helps people remember. Kristin Jones and Adam Ginzel's art installation Mnemonics, located within Tribeca's Stuyvesant High School, does exactly that (and much more) for the students in the building.

Within the walls of the prestigious New York City high school are 400 glass blocks, which contain both artifacts from all over the world and a place for graduating classes to remember their high school years. Some of the artifacts displayed in the installation include water from the Nile River, chunks from the Berlin Wall and fragments of the Great Wall of China.

Each cube measures H 8" x W 8" x D 4" (H 20.3 x W 20.3 x D 10.3 cm) with stainless steel inserts and fasteners, containing any array of materials hermetically sealed within and embedded with mortar into the walls of the 400,000 square-foot high school.

Although 322 of the cubes had been filled with relics and artifacts of graduating classes, the artists provided 88 empty containers to be filled by each future graduating class of the high school.

Jones and Ginzel have worked collaboratively since 1985 on many commissioned private and public projects, as well as international museum and gallery exhibitions. Their recent major works can be found in a variety of locations, such as the Kansas City and Tampa airports, the Tiber River in Rome, and public buildings in Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis. They are most well known in New York City for their large installation at Union Square Park entitled Metronome.

Mnemonics might be tough to see without permission from the security and administration of the high school. However, with just a quick stroll you can cast your eyes on their other well known installation, Oculus, located in the A,C,E portion of the Chambers Street, Park Place and World Trade Center station. It is one of their larger works and a great example of their many well known pieces adorning the city.

By Lizbeth