Heart Squared
By Albert Vargas
New Yorkers celebrating Valentine’s Day flocked to see Heart Squared, a mirrored architectural sculpture in Father Duffy Square. Heart Squared is a cubic steel lattice which is about 15-feet in diameter, just short of 10 feet high and is embedded with 125 mirrors.
Creators MODU and Eric Forman Studio say the lattice’s shape reflects the anatomical perimeter of the human heart. The tilt of the mirrors inside the steel grids may seem random, they say, but in fact they were deliberately positioned to create a Times Square “kaleidoscope.”
There is also a “magic sweet spot,” say the artists. When visitors stand about 10 feet in front of the sculpture, they see a pixelated heart shape created by the reflections in the mirrors. Here, say the creators, “Hundreds of reflections suddenly coalesce to reveal a pixel heart of urban life, surrounded by a field of sky.”
Chainy Rivera, a Puerto Rican native who recently moved to New York, said she felt grateful that the artists created this sculpture commemorating love. “We need love today,” she said “With all the things we are living today, we need more art like this to demonstrate that love is still alive.”
Names of people
Junior Wright, a college student from Brooklyn came with his girlfriend to see Heart Squared. “I was curious to see so many mirrors together in Times Square, and I came in today because I want to know what motivated the author to do it,” he said. “Before taking my girl to dinner, we wanted to know the famous Heart Squared that many people mentioned in social media.”
MODU and Eric Forman Studio won the 12th annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition 2020. The designers used specialized techniques to analyze specific angles to reveal the heart of urban life, along with the faces of visitors.
Other contenders for the Times Square exhibit:
A lot of people were around it, talking, drinking, and hugging.
Maife Cardenas, a Colombian from Queens, came with her best friend. “I love this sculpture because people can see themselves in the mirror and you can also do a selfie mirror with the phone,” she said.
Heart Squared will be open to the public until the end of February.
