Heart Squared, 2020 Valentines Day Heart installation

Welcome to February! There is much to see this month in the public art world, with numerous new public art installations, new work to happen upon on your daily commute, and an immersive experience focused all on a certain color of blue. Find out ways to join us on the launch of some of these new installations as well!

1. Heart Squared in Times Square

The 12th annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition winner was unveiled in Times Square at Father Duffy Square. The 2020 work is by MODU and Eric Forman Studio’s Heart Squared featuring 125 mirrors arranged in the shape of an anatomic heart and tilted in various directions inside a steel frame.

There’s a small visual trick at work — you stand on a white mark on the subway grates in order to see the full heart. The work is intended to be simultaneously a kaleidoscope of images, but also encouraging people to take time and spend a moment getting to know the work. Forman said at the opening, “If you stand back from it a bit and slow down to find the right spot, you’ll find yourself in the middle. And you’ll see that the outer mirrors create a border of sky, revealing the heart symbol in the reflections.”