The Times Square Alliance has
commissioned it's first public art project in the form of a giant shimmering
and pulsing heart, located in the newly renovated Duffy Square in the center of
Times Square. With the support of the
Rockefeller Foundation, Zale corp. and Autodesk, the sculpture, designed by
Gage / Clemenceau Architects, was created as a high-technology response to the
specific conditions of the Times Square
environment.
“Times Square is offers an
unparalleled location for rethinking the relationship between technology and
public art in the new millennium." said Times Square Alliance President
Tim Tompkins. “Gage / Clemenceau Architects use of innovative lighting effects,
robotic fabrication technologies and high-tech materials in their sculpture
couldn't be more reflective of today’s Times Square."
“In the design we aligned our interests in some aesthetic
theories of the Romantic period with a wide range of 21st century technologies,
producing a sculpture that is at once recognizable, and, dare we day,
beautiful, but also one holds a deeper reservoir of ponderous meaning the
deeper you go,” said designer Mark Foster Gage.
Rising 12' tall and standing on a 2' fluidly contoured podium,
the sculpture is formed from a combination of robotically carved translucent
pink Corian panels, all covered in a shimmering veil of laser-cut and patterned
stainless steel. The eternally changing colored LED lights shift from hues of
pink, purple and magenta, matching the visual frequency of the translucent
plates and creating the effect of a luminescent glow.
"This inaugural sculpture has set the bar very high for
our new Public Art Program," said Glenn Weiss, Director of Public Art for
the Times Square Alliance, "and since it has been erected, we have seen
not only a remarkable reaction from local visitors, but there has been
significant international interest as well; being covered by news organizations
from as far and wide as Indonesia, China and Thailand." "We expect the sculpture to be viewed by
upwards of 10 Million people, in person, even over it's limited three week
presence" said Tim Tomkins.
Gage / Clemenceau Architects "Valentine to Times Square" is a significant achievement in design,
engineering and technical coordination-- involving over 20 contractors and
fabricators in a vast array of trades.
The sculpture, largely due to it's complex metallic skin, was assembled
by a Hot-Rod shop in Long Island City,
New York.
Reported by the New York Times as "what may be Times
Square's answer to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree" the sculpture, only
erected last week, has drawn sensational crowds.
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