antony gormley sites monumental sculpture overlooking the NYC skyline

built from 11 miles of continuous square aluminum tubing, the abstract public art installation ‘new york clearing (2020)’ is antony gormley ’s latest ‘drawing in space’ project. sited at brooklyn bridge park pier 3 and overlooking the east river, the 50-feet tall sculpture forms part of an international art project CONNECT, BTS introduced by korean superstar group BTS. comprised of countless loops and coils without a beginning or an end, the parametric structure turns itself into a maze-like interactive environment for the public to climb through.

designboom attended the opening of ‘new york clearing (2020)’ and spoke with gormley about the monumental project.

installation view, brooklyn bridge park, pier 3, new york city, 2020
image by christopher burke © the artist

the swooping lines of gormley’s sculpture — rising to a height of nearly 50 feet — encourage the physical engagement between viewers and its abstract construction as ‘an exploration of the body not an object.’

‘this is the first time that I have attempted to make clearing without architectural support,’ gormley says. ‘I am enormously excited about the opportunity of making this energy field in conversation with manhattan across the waters of the east river. it can be seen as an evocation of human connectivity, a materialization of the energy of the people that view it and the people that made it.’

image by christopher burke © the artist

designboom (DB): how does the experience differ in terms of creating work for a gallery setting as opposed to the public realm?

antony gormley (AG): it’s the best — for too long, art has been inside galleries, and museums, and art fairs. there’s nothing better than putting things that didn’t exist before out in a space where everyone can see it and just seeing what happens. there’s not going to be any labels here…you’re not telling anyone to think a certain way.

images © designboom

designboom (DB): what are you currently fascinated by, and how is it feeding into your artistic practice?

antony gormley (AG): the thing that is fascinating me is this return to a sense of american confidence. it’s very easy at time of trump to think that everything is going down a plug hole, and yet building this with a multi-national team of very varied skills and capabilities, in a way re-linked me to the spirit that’s found in this city. this is an example of collective creativity — the city itself… the thing that excites me most is to come to a place where that will to make is so powerfully expressed.

image by christopher burke © the artist

CONNECT, BTS is a global initiative that aims to connect individuals across the world as they re-evaluate their present circumstances. by engaging with 22 contemporary artists, BTS is creating an opportunity for the cross-pollination of the worlds of visual art and pop music. ‘BTS has created a movement involving an audience of millions worldwide,’ says CONNECT, BTS, art director and independent curator daehyung lee. ‘their ability to speak meaningfully to people of different cultural backgrounds, social classes, ethnicities, genders and identities speaks in turn to modern art’s long-standing goal to transcend imagined boundaries.’

image by scott rudd

commissioned by daehyung lee, and approved by eric landau — president of the brooklyn bridge park corporation — the sculpture remains on view to the public until march 27, 2020.

image by scott rudd