As part of the international art project Connect, BTS, British artist Antony Gormley has created an installation in New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park. On show free to the public until March 27, 2020, New York Clearing (2020) is conceived as a single line made up of more than 11 miles of square aluminum tubing that loops and coils without beginning or end, rising to a height of nearly 50 feet, turning itself into an environment for the viewer that counters the grid of modernism and the city with swooping lines of energy.
Rising on Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 overlooking the East River, the installation is comprised of tubing measures approximately one inch and is secured to several others using plastic and metal zip ties. The entire structure is fixed onto the concrete ground using steel spigots.
“This is the first time that I have attempted to make Clearing without architectural support,” said Antony Gormley. “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.”
“We’re honored to host Antony Gormley’s New York Clearing here at Brooklyn Bridge Park,” said Eric Landau, Brooklyn Bridge Park President. “We have a long history of incredible art installations in the Park, and can’t think of a better place than Pier 3 for this amazing piece.”
New York Clearing 2020 is among a number of art pieces that Connect, BTS – which was started by the Korean pop band Bangtan Sonyeondan – has commissioned. Others have taken place in cities including London, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Seoul.