Detroit Free Press Article

Detroit Free Press 10/28/2009, Page A07

Artists aim to freeze a house Ice sculpture would tell Detroit’s story

BY ZLATI MEYER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Talk about cool new local art. Two New Yorkers want to transform an abandoned house near downtown Detroit into an ice sculpture for the winter. Architect Matthew Radune and architectural photographer Gregory Holm, a metro Detroit native, want it to represent the nation’s and Detroit’s economic woes, Radune said Tuesday.

The ice project is scheduled for January or February. Their idea is to demolish the home when the ice melts and possibly donate the lot to a local architectural-salvage or urban- farming group. “We’re trying to make a statement about where the real estate market is at, where the economy is at this time,” Radune said. “We’re attempting to make one abandoned eyesore of a house disappear, in effect.” He said he had the initial idea several years ago, but pinpointed Detroit with Holm’s help in September. Holm, in turn, was inspired partially by a tree that is covered in ice on Belle Isle every winter.

The logistics still need to be worked out, though — how water will be poured over the house, what kind of home to use, whether and how they will pay for it and how to contend with a freak warm winter day. “I think over the course of several days, we’ll build up a thick enough coating that we can leave it and not worry about it,” Radune said. They also talk of doing a film about it. “It’s Detroit’s distinctive history that makes it so resonant for this kind of work,” said John Beardsley, an adjunct professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.