Times Square has found a heart just in time for Valentine’s Day. For the third year in a row, this is starting to become a New York tradition. So if you’re in Manhattan on V-Day, stop by Times Square to check it out! Called “Lighthearted” by design company Freecell, the giant heart is meant to be lifted up by visitors with the help of volunteers. Read more after the jump….
(TS)–“Lighthearted,” an oversized levitating heart, is the winning design from the annual Times Square Valentine’s Day public art competition.
Artists Lauren Crahan and John Hartmann from the Brooklyn-based design and fabrication studio Freecell created the 10-foot wide 3-D heart that is constructed from five lightweight aluminum loops covered with a skin of translucent red fabric. Three to six volunteers take turns lifting the heart into the air for 30 minutes at a time.
“The concept has to do with bringing the public together to do something special for Valentine’s Day,†Hartmann said. “We think that with the interaction required to keep something afloat, you get that excited energy of all the hands coming together.â€
Crahan said that the interaction may even lead to spontaneous moments of intimacy among the hustle and bustle of Times Square.
“One person can’t pick up the heart themselves, balance-wise,†Crahan said. “It really requires you to do something together with another person. It could be someone you know, or it might be someone that you don’t know.â€
“Lighthearted” will be in Times Square until February 20. Volunteers can sign up online to take a turn lifting the heart.
