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Over the weekend, we had the chance to get up close and personal with artist Tom Fruin’s newest plexiglas and steel sculpture Watertower 3: RV Ingersoll, now standing atop 334 Furman Street in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The third in a series of unique water towers composed of recycled materials personally gathered by Fruin, it’s the second to display atop a Brooklyn rooftop (the first standing on the roof of 20 Jay Street in DUMBO). Created in tribute to the iconic NYC water tower that stands on top the rooftops of many buildings in NYC, the sculpture can be viewed in numerous vantage points throughout the park, which has partnered with Fruin for this year-long installation.
The inspiration behind this newest piece comes from a previous work of Fruin’s titled Treaure Maps: RV Ingersoll. Traces of the quilt-like map (assembled with trash found by Fruin inside the Ingersol Projects in Fort Greene, Brooklyn) can be easily found on the watertower, especially with Fruin’s use of blue and clear glass that strongly resembles his previous work. Fruin adds to this contemporary piece with patterns around the sculpture: hearts, leafs, bunnies and even the Batman logo.
The placement of the sculpture will be in direct sight of the sun, so on bright days the sculpture’s colors will shine and can be enjoyed by those who happen to catch it at a good vantage point or are driving along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. At night the sculpture will illuminate thanks to the solar powered system provided by Lumi•Solair.
With winter coming uninvited and the sun not hanging out with us too much until April, the city needs all the color it can get. Fruin’s beautiful, life-filled piece will shine on Brooklyn Bridge Park all winter and stay around to keep us happy all the way till next winter.
Fruin now has two unique water towers in NYC, but if you want to see 9 more, check out our list of Unique Water Towers in NYC. If you happen not to know how water towers work here in NYC, don’t worry, we got the answers for you.
To contact the author, find him on twitter @ChrisLInoa
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