wage islands installation by ekene ijeoma highlights new york's salary disparity

wage islands installation by ekene ijeoma highlights new york’s salary disparity
all images courtesy of ekene ijeoma

brooklyn-based artist and designer ekene ijeoma has exhibited an interactive installation entitled ‘wage islands’. the project, which was recently shown as part of ‘measure’ — an exhibition at storefront for art and architecture — expands new york’s ‘tale of two cities’ by revealing the geographies of access to housing in relation to wages. this is presented in the form of a 3D map where elevations are based on median monthly housing costs, ranging from $271 to $4,001.

the terrain is submerged into a box filled with black water showing which parts of the city have affordable housing derived from different wage brackets. in front of the installation is a a button that when held down, increases the wages which are shown on the display. as the wage increases the map emerges from the water showing more and more of NYC.

‘wage islands explores the poetic sides of data to bring out a visceral understanding of housing and wage gaps in new york city,’ explains ijeoma. ‘it hopes to expand the relationships between housing and accessibility and wages and affordability in new york city.’ ekene ijeoma presents his work as part of the chicago architecture biennial with a lecture at the stony island arts bank on november 7, 2015. see more of ijeoma’s work on designboom here.

the interactive installation is entitled ‘wage islands’

the project reveals the geographies of access to housing based on wages

elevations are based on median monthly housing costs

the terrain is submerged into a box filled with black water

as the wages increase the terrain emerges from the water

the installation on display at the storefront for art and architecture

when the button is held down, the wages which are shown on the display increase

project info:

GIS modeling: ekene ijeoma
3D modeling: ryan whitby, jordan tate and eric macneil
laser cutting: ekene ijeoma and ryan whitby
model making: ekene ijeoma
engineering: gwylim johnstone, eric macneil and jordan tate
3D printing: eric macneil
arduino programming: ekene ijeoma, jonathan dahan, jonathan sparks, and eric macneil
thanks to: gary chou, deroy peraza, jason lynch, dallas swindle, pepin gelardi, richard dunks, juan francisco saldarriaga, yaeyoon choi, made with support from storefront for art and architecture

the chicago architecture biennial provides a platform for groundbreaking architectural projects and spatial experiments that demonstrate how creativity and innovation can radically transform our lived experience.

the inaugural chicago architecture biennial, north america’s largest international survey of contemporary architecture, launched in october 2015. through its constellation of exhibitions, full-scale installations, and program of events, the biennial invites the public to engage with and think about architecture in new and unexpected ways, and to take part in a global discussion about the future of the field.

the chicago architecture biennial is the vision of mayor rahm emanuel for a major international architectural event and an outcome of the comprehensive cultural plan developed by chicago’s department of cultural affairs and special events. it is presented through the support of BP, and in partnership with the city of chicago and the graham foundation for advanced studies in the fine arts.

the chicago architecture biennial remains open to the public until january 3, 2015.