David Belt, along with his development company Macro Sea, made a splash last summer with their innovative dumpster pool concept based in Brooklyn. What contributed in large part to the underground summer play for many Brooklynites, Belt’s dumpster pool ended up being covered by some serious press outlets including The New York Times, and made use of a private lot on the industrial stage of Gowanus. Belt’s concept brought the usual suburban backyard sport to a more urban, and if I dare-say, hip(ster) crowd.
This year’s event, set at the same exclusive space, opened up it’s initial smash fest to a short guest list this month. Glassphemy!, Macro Sea’s latest installation is meant to be a psychological take on traditional glass recycling. A process that usually consists of grinding down bottles to a fine sand that is then used to create industrial and home products, like those available through one event vendor IceStone, Glassphemy! became the main party game for a good number of tree-huggers, techies and art freaks who ventured into an unassuming industrial lot from across the city.
Built out of bullet-proof glass, the 20-foot high, 30-foot long steel structure was designed by Belt and transported to Brooklyn from Philadelphia. Bottles were mined from local bars, who claim that many of these potential recyclables end up in the landfill due to a city-wide lack of resources to support urban recycling. The glass bottles hurled and smashed in the encasement, while amused and liberated audiences stand on the other side, will be used to create lamps, topsoil, and other innovative ideas submitted to ReadyMade magazine, the installation’s contest sponsor.
Macro Sea itself is an experimental development company committed to “working to re-think and develop a series of exploratory interim use projects in order to transform and energize our urban landscape, everyday objects and surroundings.”
Read more about Macro Sea’s experiment in psychological recycling, and watch an exclusive video at The New York Times.
Photos by Macro Sea and The New York Times.
