The Sun on the Edge, 2021
Cor-ten weathering steel and recycled granite
30 x 27 x 2 ft.
Dear friends and colleagues,
I wanted to share with you a new public project in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Sun on the Edge is a site-specific sculpture commissioned by the City of St. Petersburg for a roundabout in the EDGE District as part of a neighborhood revitalization project.
The image of the sun, constructed of granite, rests on its own reflection made of Cor-ten weathering steel. The use of industrial materials refers to the industrial history of the EDGE District. An invisible horizon line is suggested between the granite and steel, where the two meet is where the sun meets its reflection in the water. The work alludes to Florida as the “sunshine state,” and its unique peninsular geography, a state where you can see both the sunrise and the sunset on the water.
The massive stone rays define the sculpture’s shape, while the sun itself is formed by the interior empty space. The negative space frames the backdropping architecture, the landscape, and the sky. Pedestrians and drivers orbit the sculpture as the earth orbits the sun. This rotating movement creates a feeling of opening and closing, of rising and setting.
If you are in the area please join me, members of the selection committee, city staff, and Mayor Rick Kriseman at a ribbon cutting at 5:30 p.m. on July 15, 2021 at the intersection of 11th Street N and Central Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL.
Ilan Averbuch
