1985

12′ x 24′ x 10′
Pine, copper, sponge

Temporary Public Art

Temporary installation, Collect Pond Park, lower Manhattan, N.Y. Sponsored by Creative Time, Inc.

Collect Pond was the largest body of fresh water in lower Manhattan. During the 1700s it was polluted by tanneries and glue factories; between 1803 and 1811 it was filled. This work was a memorial to the pond, on its original site. I created the character of Charles Cooper, who supposedly tried to stop the pollution by political means, and failing that, invented a filter to clean the water. The work consisted of the “re-creation” of the filter and the publication of Cooper’s Journals, which I wrote.