Photos and text by Stacie Joy
Unexpected little treasures are scattered around Tompkins Square Park.
And unless you're looking closely, you might walk right past them. I'm talking about tiny bronze sculptures of everyday litter that look like they belong on the ground. Except these are solid bronze, bolted or epoxied into place.
I first learned about them when a friend asked if I knew about the miniature sculptures hidden throughout the park.
I didn't! So we set out to find them.
Our first discoveries included a crushed can, cigarette butts and a pack of gum. Intrigued, I went home and spent a good amount of time searching online for information about the artist or artists responsible. I found very little.
The next day, we were back at it, scouring the park for more.
This time, we spotted a condiment packet and a cup with a lid and straw.
We started joking about what else we might find cast in bronze around the park. A syringe? A dime bag? A pack of cigarettes? A condom?
Lo and behold, over the next few days, we found those too!
And there were more: a tiny airplane bottle of booze, a flattened water bottle, a bottle cap and even a slice of pepperoni pizza and an overturned paper plate.
All cast in bronze. All blending into the park's landscape. Rogue art sculptures hiding in plain sight.
I have no idea who created these sculptures, how long they've been here or when they were installed.
So far, there's precious little information available online.
Our search also brought a few encounters with some of the park's less artistic inhabitants, including several particularly hefty, dog-sized rats.
And then there was this moment:
I was crouched low to the ground, staring intently at the dirt and leaves for another miniature sculpture, when a clearly intoxicated guy on a nearby bench offered unexpected encouragement.
"Yeah, sis, I see them too…"
So, a little Tompkins Square Park mystery. Who is responsible for these tiny bronze tributes to the litter of everyday life? And how many more are out there?
H/T to Hot Chocolate Jen.
9 comments:
This hit r/eastvillage earlier this year and a user there claimed to be the artist without revealing their identity. I didn't go searching but was amused when I noticed I'd picked the condom bench for lunch one day a few months later.
terrific photo essay. individual shots exquisite thank you
Love ‘em all !
Omg how long have they been there?? I can’t believe I’ve missed them!
There is a gardening glove under a bench in-between the basketball court and workout area
Great art idea. Wouldn't have the same effect in an art galley unless maybe the objet d'art bronzes were displayed with park leaves and dirt scattered on the floor or display table. Used to be a festival called Art in Odd Places every Sept that did stuff like this. Looks like silicone was used to tack everything down. But yeah, very cool.
Thanks Stacie for the reporting and pictures - that is what makes our East Village so great, clever artists abound !
I suspect this is better known, but I don't know it--who put the birdhouse in one of the trees near the northwest corner, by the exit via the path that takes you past the dog runs?
A number of artist doing similar kinds of guerrilla art back in the 70s-80s (among SAMO, Ahearn, Otterness).
Two of my favorites were the guy who would do these little decorated fired stoneware medallions, and leave them up on building rooftop parapets. You would just find one somewhere. And I really loved the guy who did beautiful, almost photorealistic, life-size paintings of a hummingbird in various flight. They were so tiny and you would just somehow manage to find one painted up on the corner of a building amongst 1,000 lbs of flyer posters and graffiti.
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