City Of Water Day Gets A Governors Island Sculpture

The West Harlem Art Fund presents for City of Water Day, Brooklyn-based floral designer Joshua Werber. Werber will "flower bomb" an outdoor sculptural work adjoining Building 10B on Governors Island in Nolan Park.

Joshua Werber's installation "Goals are Fluid" is a site specific reaction to, and a collaboration with, Conrad Levenson's sculpture, "Personal Goal Post" in situ on Governors Island in celebration of the 2020 City of Water Day.

"Goals are Fluid" depicts a wave constructed of clear recycled plastic water tubes, which are ubiquitous in the floral industry. The individual tubes will hold flowers and foliage endemic to the landscape of Governors Island, including: asters, goldenrod, reeds and grasses. Additionally, some of the tubes will be filled with water collected from the shores of the island. This site specific approach to the construction of the installation anchors it within its surroundings, poetically tying it to the beauty of this cultivated natural landscape.

Werber's fascination with flowers began as a child, rising out of his love of nature, and gardening. On school bus rides he became enamoured with phragmites, a non-native invasive reed species, which he mistook for wheat. Like Levenson, Werber is a consummate collector of found and reused materials which he often translates into his works and installations. The floral industry is fraught with waste, including a tremendous carbon footprint and a reliance on single use and micro plastics. The floral tubes, which Werber has reused for projects spanning almost a decade, are traditionally hidden in foliage or other material to disguise their existence or necessity. Here, they are highlighted for their functionality and simplistic design, recontextualizing them as vessels for a microcosm -- test tubes for the collection and display of local flora and the water that sustains it.

To learn more about Joshua Werber visit www.joshuawerber.com and Conrad Levenson on www.conradlevenson.com.