02 FUSION TRAIL
Project: Fusion Trail
Location: Arsenal Park, Lawrenceville - Pittsburgh, U.S. - 2024
Artist: Urbanismo Vivo + Sasha Reisin
Commissioner: Public Art & Civic Design Commission of the City of Pittsburgh in the United States
Fusion Trail consists on 4 large-scale metal sculptures. The site-specific project is inspired by local animals and aims to enhance the heritage, identity, and stories of the park and the community.
The ideas were developed together with the Lawrenceville community, where we conducted interviews, surveys, and school workshops that resulted in 4 thematic axes. Thus, each sculpture symbolizes a key aspect of memory:
The beaver with the house on its tail: gentrification and resilience.
The firefly with the star: migration.
The turtle with the pine: a Seneca indigenous legend.
The squirrel with the cannonball: the park's own history.
Technical aspects and design included: drawings inspired by children's art, 3D models, unfolded these models into 2D to fit them onto large sheets of metal that we cut with a laser. For fabrication, I refolded each polygon to form the shapes, like metal origami, welding each joint to secure them. Finally, I painted them with automotive paint, lacquered. The colors play with the park's palette of green, gray, and light blue.