Client: Facebook

Overview

Crazing offers workers an imagination vacation where anything is possible. This 11’x80’ piece at a Facebook office in Bellevue, WA combines ceramic heads with a painted mural. The design stokes creativity, encourages innovation, and interrupts daily routines. The mural responds to the built environment, framing doors and ducts. By giving the figures dimension, they come off the wall and enter real life. The arms weave through each figure, joining through complicated knots. This expresses our persistent desire to connect, even when it is difficult.

Goals

This mural stokes creative thinking in the office of a company known for innovation. It brings joy and delight to workers and visitors. The all-female cast of characters with different bodies and colors reminds people to think of who is not in the room. It creates an identity for a hallway at Facebook’s corporate office in Bellevue, WA, helping visitors navigate the building. This is a bold and colorful addition to an office with a minimal aesthetic.

Process

The curator at Facebook gave me complete freedom with the design and encouraged the idea that this could be a stepping stone to a new way of working. They wanted innovative projects that could take any shape. I knew I wanted to incorporate ceramics into my public art, so I began sketching ideas for sculptures. This quickly lead to the heads and the mural came together to create an inviting world for the figures.
This was my first time creating large-scale ceramic work, so I consulted with a sculpture lab technician and a ceramist/museum installer. They helped me troubleshoot how to build and hang the ceramic elements, what paint to use, and how to seal the painted floor. I learned to rely on the expertise of others to achieve my goals.