Brooklyn sculpture is fantastic plastic water tower

image from Junk Culture

The BBC reports a Brooklyn-based artist Tom Fruin has used 1,000 pieces of transparent plastic scavenged from various parts of New York to create a sculpture of a water tower.

The artwork is open to the public and can be seen from the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and from parts of lower Manhattan.


It is illuminated by the sun during the day and by Ardunio-controlled light sequences designed by Ryan Holsopple at night. It opened on June 7th and will be in place for one year with a light show beginning at dusk and continuing to morning.

Tom Santorelli reports

Inside the sculptor's workshop:

Tom Fruin - HEAT MARKS from Made-Up Language on Vimeo.

We know it's a load of scrap but is it art? Of course it is.

Indian Inspiration

Painting No. 130, Water Tower
Stewart Indian School, Carson City, Nevada
8"x 8", oil on linen panel
September 1, 2011

Standing over the facility, like a giant sci-fi robot, the water tower is surrounded by trees and buildings. It's silvery exterior reflecting the local color. This is painting 6 of 10 in a series painted at the school. 

Source: http://jamesamckewfineart.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/water-tower.html

The Stewart Indian School in Carson City Nevada served as an off-reservation boarding school from 1890 through 1980, and its stone buildings are an icon of education and life for many American Indians in the West. After the school closed, the buildings were emptied and many became home to state offices. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is comprised of 83 buildings.

The Water Tank Project

Word Above the Street is staging a large scale public art initiative to draw attention to water as a precious resource by transforming 300 of New York's celebrated rooftop water tanks into works of art.

Artists, musicians and scientists and New York City residents will redefine the skyline across all five New York City boroughs during Summer 2013.

The event aims to reach millions around the world through social networking, and online multimedia tools with a mission to harness the power of art and technology to build a better world, make art that makes a difference and broadcast art to an ever expanding audience.

You can download a snazzy PDF brochure about it.