Three Bushes

Socrates Park is an example of nature’s subsistence in an urban environment. Three Bushes, part of Sculptors Working (1988 – 1989), is meant to reflect this condition and show the paradox of nature’s grip in the city — scarce and tentative, yet incredibly hardy where it does take hold.

The steel bushes contrast the relation between man-made and nature-made. The site and piece are intimately connected, symbiotically reliant. There is a grotto-like area near the fence and a patch of wildflowers and marsh grass near the river. These both seemed like likely spots for steel bushes and they sprang up like weeds. One grew near the fence and the other two took root in the marsh grass.

Thanks to Valerie Thomas, Billie Jenkins, Harvey Simmons, Arlene Smitheran, and John Friend Company, Inc.