Jean Shin, Settings, 2010, ceramic plates and tiles, PS 276, Manhattan

Jean Shin’s Settings is comprised of ceramic plates donated by families and staff of PS/IS 276, as well as residents of Battery Park City. By accumulating plates and bowls from neighborhood homes, Settings literally extends the realm of the domestic into the public setting of the school. It provides students with a comforting reminder of home while in the institutional environment of the cafeteria. The variety of plate designs speaks to the diversity of both the neighborhood and school, and can be seen as a collective portrait of the local community at large. Settings, allows the public to see themselves and their lives reflected in a permanent public artwork and celebrates the universal tradition of families and communities eating together and sharing during mealtime.