Gentle Glowing Giants

Public Art Comes to McCarren Park for the First Time

Steady cold rain couldn’t stop the unveiling of artist Jason Krugman’s beautiful new installation “Living Objects” in McCarren Park Sunday night. After a mercifully brief opening ceremony featuring a few quick words and thank yous from Krugman, Director of the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac) Ciara McKeown and Executive Director of the Open Space Alliance (OSA) Stephanie Thayer, the group retreated to the reception held across the street at Light Up Brooklyn, one of the project’s sponsors, where attendees were eager to find refuge from the rain, drink wine and eat snacks in the bright, new—and, it could be said, well-lit—showroom.

“Living Objects,” a series of three oversized, electronically lit human forms, is engaging and straightforward. The figures, inspired by images from the artist’s childhood dreams, were constructed from simple materials—discarded plywood, chicken wire, bolts, custom joints, a generous supply of plastic wrap—and then embedded with thousands of “warm white” LED lights, which approximate the yellow-orange glow of incandescent light but use 98% less energy. In fact, Krugman noted, the entire installation uses around 300 watts—which, for comparison’s sake, is the same as a standard halogen light bulb.

Ranging from six to seventeen feet in length, the figures seated in various poses in the park. The smallest figure, affectionately nicknamed “Freddy” by Krugman, sits atop “Big Boy #1,” while “Big Boy #2” reclines in front of a tree, its enormous glowing legs splayed out casually along the ground. “The names are a little deceptive,” smiled Krugman, “because they’re supposed to be androgynous.” With the help of his assistant/project manager/“head fabricator” Andrew Martinez, a childhood friend of Krugman’s, the giants took ten days to construct.

“We all really loved the work aesthetically, and thought it would create something mysterious and beautiful in Williamsburg in winter,” said Anne Palermo, who is the Director of Marketing at NbPac. “We loved the idea of doing it in a place of prominence—like McCarren Park—and the fact that none of us could think of any other large, site-specific public art installations that had been done in McCarren Park.”

It was a particularly exciting and triumphant moment, given that the original opening had been scheduled nearly a month earlier. Initially, the proposal was for the figures to be installed atop the field house in the middle of McCarren Park. However, there had been a concern about the safety of such an installation. This led Krugman, NbPac, OSA and the City Parks Department back to the drawing board. Where the site is now solves the potential danger of a falling installation. Additionally, its new location draws attention to a less frequented corner of the park, the southeastern corner at Driggs Avenue and Union Avenue. “One of NbPac’s goals is to bring attention to the public spaces within our neighborhoods that aren’t as visible, so [“Living Objects”] kind of does that literally,” quipped Palermo.

Regardless of location, the installation is an exciting development for a park that, while seeing a great deal of community use in the form of intramural softball games, pickup soccer and general relaxing, has not hosted a large-scale, site specific art installation, well, perhaps ever. “We learned of a festival/performance that took place in the park a few years ago,” said McKeown. “But wasn’t the same nature of a public art installation as we are producing.” Indeed, Krugman’s installation seems to be the first of its kind in what is the neighborhood’s most frequented and famous public space.

Krugman’s installation marks the second major public art project for NbPac—the first being the India Street Mural, which was unveiled in September. “Public art is important for all communities,” said Palermo. “But especially in North Brooklyn, where we have a really vibrant artistic population. One of NbPac’s goals is to showcase our community’s artists in the public realm, and create that opportunity for them.

“We’re integrating Jason’s work into North Brooklyn’s public space,” Palermo added. “The public might love it or hate it, but the whole point is to engage people. One of the powerful things public art can do, and another of NbPac’s goals, is create dialogue and open up conversation within communities about our public spaces and the role of culture within those spaces.”

With safety concerns put to rest, “Living Objects” will be art everyone in the neighborhood can experience firsthand, and for free. “Living Objects” will be on display in the southeast corner of the McCarren Park, at the corner of Driggs and Union until January 23rd. Future projects for NbPac include a project to address the abandoned sites in the areas of Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick, and a project with local artist Amanda Browder, slated for Spring 2010.