Surface Tension

Surface Tension is a suspended canopy installation constructed in our signature style of single-use plastic and modeled after the visual language of stained glass. Installed on a barge along the riverfront in downtown Pittsburgh, the work frames fragments of the surrounding cityscape alongside native vegetation and bird species found throughout the region’s river ecosystems. We in this case created two large roundels that resemblance those found in lobbies. By translating disposable material into a structure traditionally associated with permanence and reverence, the piece examines the unstable relationship between consumption, landscape, and public space. The title, Surface Tension, references both the physical properties of water and the environmental pressures carried within contemporary urban life.

We are grateful with Riverlife for this wonderful opportunity, with Shiftworks for facilitating the process and with all our friends who have lend us tools, a helping hand, who have collected plastic for us among other things.