Created by Brooklyn artist Marshall Reese and longtime collaborator Nora Ligorano. Known as Ligorano/Reese, the duo placed a 2,500 lb. 3-by-14-foot ice sculpture reading “Middle Class” in Lykes Gaslight Square Park in downtown Tampa this past Sunday and watched it melt. The symbolic sculptures are scheduled to be placed on the opening days of the Republic and Democratic National Conventions. Reese told Businessweek:
“It’s a call to action… If no one does anything, the middle class will disappear just like the ice sculpture.”
The sculpture took 4 ½ hours to melt and the whole process was videotaped. Ligorano/Reese are known for melting telltale sculpture like “Economy” and “Democracy”. They funded these meltings through Kickstarter and this one was done during the time of a looming Hurricane Issac. Ligorano explains the concept further:
“For people to watch the middle class disappear in front of their very eyes, there’s this aha moment… These artworks are monuments to what’s happening to our country and our society.”
The next “Middle Class” melting is scheduled to take place on Sept. 4, in Marshall Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, starting at 11:30 a.m.
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