“The Trees” Stockwood Discovery Center, Luton, UK, 2022
For nearly a decade, Jin Choi and Thomas Shine of Choi + Shine Architects have turned to the community to produce elaborate crocheted lacework for their public installations. From the Netherlands to the United States to Japan, they’ve used the power of art to bring people together and create something beautiful for all to enjoy.
While Shine focuses on the structural aspect of the installation, Choi creates a crochet pattern that can be produced by people of different skill levels. Often referencing 16th-century patterns, Choi notes that lace weaves across many cultures and traditions, making it the perfect item to bring people together. While the duo initially turned to volunteers in order to produce large-scale work in a tight timeframe, they quickly realized that working with others instilled their art with a deeper meaning.
“Through community involvement, the work enables participants to share the ownership and sense of achievement,” the architects tell My Modern Met. “It is most rewarding when participants enter the studio every day, asking ‘How is our work today?’ or when they tell us, ‘My sons, who never spoke to me like that before, told me that they are proud of me,’ with such joy and pride in their eyes.
“When we witness many different people from all walks of life, young and old, different languages and origins, come together, laugh together, and help each other, we understand the purpose of art.”
The finished pieces are quite impressive, with the lace providing a familiar warmth to structures that are often quite modern. And though most of the public who view these pieces don’t see the group effort that goes into completing them, this process is an important part of the story for Choi and Shine.
“For us, making art is as significant as the outcome, if not more so. It is a process of finding one’s own power to create while taking part in a change with our artwork that contributes to the beauty around us,” they share.
“In its making, we hope to share the power of making art—the power of telling the story in its quiet beauty, the experience of working with focus and rigor for a common goal, the experience of being the creator and sharing the memory of making every stitch with others—our collective journey for empowerment.”
The power of the creative journey will once again be on display this September when Choi + Shine reveals a reimagination of their popular URCHINS installation. Set to be displayed in Barcelona during Manifesta15, the pieces were realized during a three-week workshop that involved hundreds of crocheters working with 70 miles of marine cord.
Choi + Shine Architects are known for their elaborate lacework public installations.
“Arizona!” Scottsdale, Arizona, 2018
“The Power of One” Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Grand Studio, 2023
“Arizona!” Scottsdale, Arizona, 2018
The pieces are a marriage of modern structure and traditional lace patterns.
“The Trees” Stockwood Discovery Center, Luton, UK, 2022
“Arizona!” Scottsdale, Arizona, 2018
“The Lace” Amsterdam Light Festival, 2016 (Photo: Janus van den Eijnden, ©2016)
Around the world, the architects hold community workshops to help produce their public art.
Making of “The Trees”
Assembly of “The Power of One”
Making of “Arizona!”
“When we witness many different people from all walks of life, young and old, different languages and origins, come together, laugh together, and help each other, we understand the purpose of art.”
Making of “The Trees”
Making of “The Lace”