Playing the fly on wall as people observe his sculpture is one of the great rewards of public art, says sculptor, Todd Stuart.
Public sculpture doesn’t come much more public than Manhattan, as Todd Stuart recently witnessed with the unveiling of his exquisite piece, Summit of Manhattan in June.
A first for Todd in in the United States, the sculpture graces the entrance of the soaring Summit development at 222 East 44th Street on Manhattan Island. The project is one of many for prominent New York property developer, Lloyd Goldman, and his company, the BLDG Group.
Goldman discovered Todd’s work online in his Organic Forms series, leading to his commissioning the 3.7 metre tall Summit in September 2017. The work was completed in May 2019.
Mutual excitement
Todd says he loves creating sculptures and learning about a new project, a new client, and a new meaning to the work. Along the way, a mutual excitement grows as the brief slowly emerges and the sculpture itself begins to appear from the design.
‘Part of the excitement is actually the fact that I can see the client getting excited about something meaningful to them. I guess one of the really obvious things to get excited about is once the concepts are connected enough that the client is leaning in and getting excited about obtaining that piece of art. They start to see themselves not living without that art; they see it’s connecting with them so much they’re willing to move forward with it, so that’s quite an exciting point.
Embryo
‘It’s also really exciting once it gets to the production side where that concept is then suddenly going into a process where it’s going to be born and it starts developing as an embryo and develops through its stages of production to being born as a finished child so to speak.’
Todd says the final part of the process — which he likens to childbirth — is the most rewarding of all. He sometime waits anonymously by his work and feeling, hearing, and understanding the community’s reaction.
A fly on the wall
‘[You] just stand there like a fly on the wall where no one knows that you were the sculptor who created that piece.
‘They actually engage you in a conversation as another bystander and say “Wow, how did this come about?” and “It’s so beautiful.” People are sharing it with each other, taking pictures of it in front of them with it because they are already owning it and having it belong to them in their community.’
Much as he loves sculpture, Todd concedes that some would see it as a small detail in a project costing upwards of half a billion dollars. Nonetheless, clients sometimes worry about whether he could deliver on time, on budget, and within the original design scope. Seeing and hearing their sigh of relief when the work is safely installed is also a substantial part of the reward, he says.
If you need to know more about sculpture and public art, talk to Todd Stuart on +61 4 5151 8865, or visit mainartery.art. You might also like to visit his blog on Honey bees, sculpture, and public art.
