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From debris to sculpture, an uptown pair is building a spherical, environmentally-minded artwork out of discarded umbrellas.
Few vessels get a second chance after an embarrassing shipwreck.
But Harvest Dome — a 24-foot-by-18-foot contraption built from discarded umbrellas and plastic soda bottles — will be back in Inwood Hill Park in August in another attempt to promote environmental awareness and different ways of thinking about water.
“The whole point of this project is to bring attention to the natural water cycles of our island,” said Alex Levi, one of the dome creators. “Now, more than ever, it’s important to remind people of how we’re implicated in the ecological cycle.”
Levi and his partner, Amanda Schachter, had the same idea back in 2011, albeit with horrible luck.
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A close inspection reveals the broken-umbrella latticework.
The floating piece of performance architecture was headed to an inlet of Inwood Hill Park on a tugboat in the East River when choppy currents forced it to abandon the sculpture, marooning it on Rikers Island.
“The correctional officers . . . took it upon themselves to pull it up and demolish it,” said Levi. “It’s hard to question the actions of correctional officers on their own prisoners’ island . . . so we just decided to make it again.”
The second spherical art project was funded by a $ 7,500 Kickstarter campaign in 2012, and is now nearing completion in time for the second trip up river on July 31 — weather permitting.
“We really wanted this project to see its true home,” said Schachter. “And doing this a second time has given us the opportunity to perfect it.”
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Laignee Barron for Daily News
The work is being constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The 600-pound dome, which floats on 128 plastic bottles, will rise and settle along with the tide. The installation will be lit by LED lights in the evening, so visitors can spot it.
For years, Schachter and Levi — husband-and-wife architects — have been sculpting with litter and junk. The dome evolved out of a 2009 project called “Bronx River Crossing,” which was a floating raft made of reclaimed bottles, MetroCards and other materials.
“There are many ways to recycle something and bring it back to life,” said Schachter.
After months of collecting over 500 discarded umbrellas from around the city, cleaning 200 water bottles and welding the metal skeleton, the couple is getting ready to share the fruits of its Dumpster diving.
And after the month-long park installation, the team hopes to sell the dome to someone interested in a more permanent exhibition.
“We’re not gonna let it get marooned this time around,” Schachter said.
