A Red Forest Grows in Riverfront

How cool is this?  A few weeks ago, thanks to funding from the Riverfront Park Community Foundation, a group of folks selected a new art piece for Riverfront Park Plaza.  To be placed beneath the Millennium Bridge, the piece, from Australian artist Konstantin Kondimopoulos (say that three times fast), will be installed in the coming months.  Made from a fancy composite plastic, the piece is essentially a giant red field of plastic grass.  As you can see from the rendering and the When the wind blows, the pieces will brush gently against each other; when the trains couple, the piece will reflect the echo of the trains; and in quiet times, the “grasses” will sit gently against the backdrop of the Millennium Bridge.

Obviously, we’re excited about this great addition to the plaza.  If you want to learn a little bit more, to see renderings, to see other work by Konstantin, and to read a description of the piece form the artist, please click through.

If you’d like to see the renderings a little bigger, go visit the good folks at flickr.

Hey, you clicked through!

Here’s what Konstantin had to say about his piece:

The Red Forest is a site-specific environmental sculpture for the Denver Millenium Bridge. The work focuses on the simple but elegant and
dynamic rhythms of nature.

On viewing the site there were two key aspects that influenced my concept – the vertical nature of the Millenium Bridge and its linear form; and a sense of overwhelming greyness from the surrounding concrete and with this a visual and tactile hardness of surface.

I felt that this needed to be softened and linked to the green space of Commons Park. The Red Forest is a dynamic sculpture that uses colour, vertical forms, the natural environment, repetition of form, and the imagination of the viewer to transform a site and echo an organic, primordial past.

The work explores the spirituality of trees and nature’s own architectural beauty where shelter and sanctuary are integral parts of the natural forest. The tree above all other plant life is especially revered, possibly because of its distinctive form, and size, but certainly because many trees have life spans far longer than ours.

The memory and history of our journey as people from one generation to the next is carried through these trees, they have come to symbolise perhaps above all the idea of rejuvenation, hope and the preservation of life on earth.
I have created for the space a vivid red forest set into a cool green groundcover; a work that is both reverential and reflective, allowing the viewer to come to their own conclusion their through their own introspection. Colour is not merely decoration; it evokes a real energy capturing the energy and spirituality of nature.

The Red Forest is also a changing work, from upright, orderly serenity, to gently pulsing abstraction when moved by the wind, the reeds moving together to form transitory patterns then separating again and opening up to reveal new aspects to the sculpture. People can move freely around the sculpture to enjoy the reflective and mesmeric nature of the work.

The sculpture is made of very durable materials requiring minimal maintenance and will endure through the generations to come. I am proud to submit The Red Forest for your consideration. It is an iconic sculpture, with a strong visual impact in its colour and form.