Some jerk broke Greenpoint’s heart on Thursday — that is, the expensive glass heart piece in McGolrick Park.
The local art scene was stunned to find that someone completely shattered the relatively unsecured heart piece of the “Humanity Fountain,” a concrete, perfume-emitting box and exhibit that is ironically supposed to reflect the “kindness in people’s hearts.”
Glass sculptors Alan Iwamura and Isaac Tecosky and their sponsor, Trust Art, said they knew they were taking a risk when they put the piece out there, insurance or not. But that’s part of the point with public art of this kind.
“We knew the risk of putting a glass heart in the public realm — we’re embracing its vulnerability,” said Jose Serrano-Reyes, a founder of Trust Art who helped create the exhibit. “This has become part of the story of the project.”
When it was installed two weeks ago, the $4,910 piece was certainly something to sniff at. The heart, complete with every intricacy of the human organ expertly crafted in glass, was surrounded by the wafting smell — which Serrano-Reyes described as “all-natural” and much like a pencil — using solar panels.
It was even featured in a big spread in our newspapers.
Today, only the box and a bouquet of sympathy flowers remain in a gated area at the center of the park saddling Nassau Avenue and Russell Street. But parks officials and the folks at Trust Art are working on Greenpoint’s newest heart — no, not one made of steel, but of glass, again.
“[The artists] were very upset, but they want to emphasize that they can overcome these obstacles,” said Jennifer Lantzas, the public arts coordinator for the Parks Department.
And overcome they will — this time, by fastening the heart to its perfume box with a steel cable. Realistically though, as Serrano-Reyes noted, “you could still smash it.”
So go see it before it’s taken down in mid-November, or worse, broken for a second time.
“Humanity Fountain” at McGorlick Park (Nassau Avenue and Russell Street in Greenpoint, no phone).
