On September 11, 2001, a sycamore in the churchyard of St. Paul's Chapel, just across the street from the former World Trade Center, was knocked over by the fall of the towers. Trinity Root, which now stands outside Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, was created by Steve Tobin using the roots of the tree as the base for the sculpture.
Very beautiful! What a great, non-political, memorial!
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible on all accounts. Beautiful, too.
ReplyDeleteThis very amazing. Thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeleteTim, Benjamin & Michael,
ReplyDeleteI should have made it clear this is a bronze sculpture cast from the roots of the tree. I used to work in One World Trade Center and looked down on St. Paul's Chapel. George Washington, among others, went to St. Paul's immediately following his inauguration as the first President at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan. It's rather amazing that this building still stands across the street from the former WTC.
Really like it is dancing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the added detail which contextualizes it.
Amazing that the chapel has withstood the growth of the area and also its destruction!
Thanks for this.
Best
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Wonderful, somehow it seems almost tactile... Like it would be taking tiny, tentative steps on the paving. Amazing that the church was saved, and I love the way they made the old tree into this sculpture, very sensitive. I have to check it out next time in New York.
ReplyDeleteRobert, it does look like dancing, which raises some interesting questions. Do all tree root systems have a similar "dancing" quality? Or is this a human artist at work, not a natural attribute of the sycamore root network?
ReplyDeleteIntercontinental Gardener,
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to find--at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway.
It's great. Wonderful, expressive shape I saw a fig root used as a crucifix in Mexico recently, but I haven't often seen roots used like this in the States.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see that fig root. Two trees fell over in my garden during wet weather and high winds last winter. I may try to dig them out and start a root sculpture garden.
This is a fantastic piece with a great story behind it. The current issue of American Nurseymen has an article about Tobin and his art.
ReplyDeleteWish I could read the AN piece, but I imagine only those in the industry can get it.
ReplyDelete