Our city is filled with quirky, unusual things everywhere you turn. Some of these are part of the fabric of our city and woven deep while others are done purposely for us. This includes everything from LinkNYC to charge your phone to art installations that make you think for days. And, we have one of those to tell you about. The best part of these exhibits is the fact that you can visit them at any time and it wont cost you a thing!
As we know, the Madison Square Park Conservancy does an amazing job with keeping the art plentiful, relevant, and thoughtful at Madison Square Park. They have upped their game this winter along with Hugh Hayden to bring you Brier Patch. This exhibit is on view through April 24 and consists of 100 elementary school-style desks with tree branches erupting from the tabletops. At first glance, this can look like a scene from a horror movie. However, referencing Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus, his songs and his sayings, the work calls on the notion of the brier patch as a place protective for some and dangerous for others.
Artist Hugh Hayden has realized his most ambitious installation to date with a new public artwork commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy. Presented across four separate lawns in the park, Brier Patch features a total of one-hundred wooden elementary school-style desks that erupt with tree branches, cohering into tangled assemblies with complex and layered meanings. The accumulations of desks summon the grid arrangement of classroom seating. Referencing folklore traditions around the world, the work calls on the notion of the brier patch as a place protective for some and dangerous for others, drawing connections to similar disparities within the education system and the ideal of the American Dream.
Like we said, its here for you to see whenever you’re free and think about its impact until it dissipates. Or doesn’t.
For more information, visit madisonsquarepark.org/art/exhibitions/hugh-hayden-brier-patch/