Wildness : Chapter THREE
This sculpture is proposed for a piece of public land in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which has historically been home to shipping and industry, and before that, Algonquin.
The Helper s sculpture will reconfigure the bricks lying dormant on the Brooklyn shoreline into a figure with an ancient past and a contemporary method of construction. The original model will be made from brick and mortar, and then a mold will be made out of urethane rubber, into which the final concrete sculpture will be poured and reinforced with rebar at the joints. The dimensions will be 6’ x 3’ x 3’, including the the pedestal.
The
form
of
the
Helper
is
based
on
a
2000
year
old Native
American
rock
carving
from
the
Passamaquoddy
tribe
of
Maine
.
Early
archaeological
studies
on
the
carving
have
suggested
that
the
Helper
is
a
benevolent
spirit
who
aides
powerful
shamanic
spirits
through
visitation
to
the
tribal
hunters
during
their
sweat
lodge
rituals.
In
contemporary
terms,
this
sculpture
pays
homage
to
a
wilder
time
in
our
country’s
past,
a
time
which
seems
increasingly
appealing
from
our
current
vantage
point.
