About the Exhibition
Bridges is a show of some twenty-five site-specific outdoor sculptures in five parks throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn in recognition of the Brooklyn Bridge centennial. The Phoenix, a Brooklyn newspaper, described Bridges on May 12th, 1983 as “the largest exhibition of contemporary outdoor sculpture to take place in New York.”
Location
Photo Gallery
Featured Artists
Jeffrey Owen Brosk, Two-Hearted River
Two-Hearted River by Jeffrey Owen Brosk (b.1947, New York, NY) measures 11’4” x 19’6” x 15’ and is created out of wood, concrete block, brick and tile.
Bill and Mary Buchen, Harmonic Arc
Harmonic Arc is an Aeolian sound sculpture by Bill (b.1949) and Mary Buchen (b.1949) that incorporates architectural tension and compression systems found in the Brooklyn Bridge. Four twenty-foot poles act as compression towers and support the weight (80 lb) of the ten-foot curved resonator. Sixty stainless-steel strings suspend the aluminum resonator between the towers and create shimmering harmonic overtones when activated by wind speeds of five mph or more. The strings exist on several spatial planes and can be activated by winds from any direction.
The tuning system of the strings is generated by the parabolic curve of the resonator. On pianos and harps this is known as the harmonic curve. Sound waves generated by the sculpture and ambient sounds from the site will be focused and amplified by the resonator to a point 5’3” above grade (the listener’s ear).
The sounds created by this sound sculpture are soft, shimmering harmonic overtones only audible from a short distance.
The Buchens’ work is within a show of some twenty-five site-specific outdoor sculptures in five parks throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn entitled Bridges in recognition of the Brooklyn Bridge centennial. The Phoenix, a Brooklyn newspaper, described Bridges on May 12th, 1983 as “the largest exhibition of contemporary outdoor sculpture to take place in New York.”
Chris Griffen, Untitled
Chris Griffen’s untitled piece is a colorful sculpture measuring 3.5’ x 19’ x 10’, made out of marine plywood, Plexiglas, steel rods and paint.
Robert Taplin, Artificial Horizons
Robert Taplin’s Artificial Horizons is 20’ x 12’ x 15’ and is made out of mixed media. Eight legs are attached to the sidewalk and expandable shields. For Artificial Horizons, Taplin (b.1950, New Haven, CT) invites passersby to look into the viewing holes in the sculptures.