Madison Square Park's Gorgeous Garden of Globes

By Samantha Neudorf April 10, 2015

Madison Square Park’s new art installation debuted Feb. 19. Gazing Globes is the latest in the Madison Square Art series.

gazing globes art exhibit

Gazing Globes was created by Brooklyn-based artist Paula Hayes, and is her first outdoor sculpture exhibition. The installation is made up of 18 transparent, crystal orbs scattered throughout the West Gravel area of the park, which looks like a “garden” of shiny globes supported by fiberglass pedestals.

gazing globes madison square park

The orbs symbolize a “synthetic universe,” Hayes says, and are meant to show the current state of our world and how we value technology. Each globe is filled with technological and industrial items mixed in with crystals and minerals.

garden of globes in madison square park nyc

Gaze into the globes and you’ll see everything from pieces of vacuum tubes to shredded tires, used batteries, smashed CDs, broken computer parts, used electronic transistor parts, and recycled plastic flotsam. These deconstructed items are then made beautiful with a covering of glittery, colorful fairy dust.

gazing globes by paula hayes

The spheres resemble terrariums, which Hayes uses often in her artwork.

At night, the orbs light up and present a whole new viewing experience.

gazing globes at night

Though colorful, the installation has a wintery feel. Some orbs have icicles and the fairy dust looks like ice, as if the objects inside have been frozen in time.

gazing globes winter art installation

The exhibit is designed to showcase the present and future of technology and its materials—a metaphor of looking into the future using crystal balls.

gazing globes art exhibit nyc

Gazing Globes will be on display until April 19. Madison Square Park is located between 23rd and 26th streets, between Madison and Fifth avenues, in Manhattan. For more information on the exhibit, visit madisonsquarepark.org.

globe garden art exhibit