Ding Yi’s permanent public sculpture at Yangpu Waterfront, Shanghai

2 July 2024

Ding Yi’s large-scale sculpture Light Tower (2024) is on permanent display at the Yangpu Waterfront, Shanghai.

Commissioned by Art Pioneer Studio, Light Tower consists of six staggered concrete boxes. Cutouts of Ding’s iconic cross symbol from different sides of the boxes are reintegrated into the surface of the sculpture, forming a relationship of dissemblance and restoration between the concave and convex on the exterior and the interior. Under the sunlight, these cutouts cast ever-changing shadows in the sculpture's internal and external spaces over time. Light Tower embodies the notion of "making the best use of everything", a concept that originates from Frank Lloyd Wright's “Organic Architecture” philosophy which highlights organic design and forms as well as unity with nature.

Ding Yi said, "It makes sense to interpret an artist's portrayal of light and the so-called spirit through the shifting daylight and shadow in a location like the Waterfront. The relationship between the concave and convex surfaces is very important for an outdoor sculpture... The notion of making the best use of things is not only a concept but a manifestation of the sculpture’s layers…It is also interactive. Although there is only a small space, the audience can still enter the work and experience some kind of meditation in it.”

In conjunction with the reveal of Light Tower, from 19 – 26 May 2024, the one-week exhibition “Crisscrosses: Ding Yi's Public Art for Twenty Years” provided a comprehensive overview on Ding's public art trajectory through four sections: construction, integration, participation, and publication.