Seen & Heard: Tribeca Park’s Next Sculpture

••• Artist Leonard Ursachi sent over an image of “What a Wonderful World,” his sculpture coming to Tribeca Park in June. From the proposal:

“What a Wonderful World” is an egg-shaped sculpture woven from branches, 8 feet high by 5.5 feet in diameter at its broadest point. The surface is partially covered with a world map made of pigmented cement in which are bits of colored glass and shells. Recessed in the sculpture are two stainless steel mirrors, in which visitors will see their reflections.

The sculpture rests on a circular step, 7” high and 4-5 feet in diameter, on which visitors may stand. Concealed inside the step is part of the stabilizing structure.

The form and woven branches of “What a Wonderful World” may evoke nests, birth, history, and nature, while the cement map may be seen as humanity’s trace. The title can be read as ironic, cautionary, or celebratory, depending on what each viewer brings to the art.

I am a Romanian-born American artist. I grew up in a dictatorship, from which I defected. A strong leitmotif in my work has been the impact of environmental choices on the global community; another is the effect of borders, real and imagined, on identity.

••• Best use of a sidewalk shed ever. (At the Summers Soho café on Thompson.)

••• The restaurant coming to 241 W. Broadway is still being built out.

••• Sure looks like the American Apparel at Broadway and Howard is closing. Everything is 60% off.

••• Press release: “State Senator Daniel Squadron announced his annual Community Convention to “Make the National Fight Local” will be held Sunday, April 23rd from 2-5 p.m. at Stuyvesant High School (345 Chambers Street) with a keynote by Akeem Browder. This year’s Convention will focus on how local action can address national concerns. Akeem Browder, brother of the late Kalief Browder, is a criminal justice reform advocate, and was central to the recent successful push to Raise the Age for criminal responsibility.” More info and RSVP.

 

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