David Barr
Materials: Granite
Dimensions: 4′ H x 17’W x 9″D
Created: 1996
Installed: 2006
When asked, “What is Michigan?,” David Barr once responded, “Michigan is a place where people make things; but it is also rooted in nature.” These two functions, manufacture and nature, are often seen in opposition through filters of political bias. For Barr, though, Michigan Legacy Art Park is a place for harmony “… telling the story and what we learn from it rather than simply pointing fingers.”
The piece, Nurture/Nature, was originally commissioned by the late Mr. Maurice Cohen in 1996 and was named Dreampool. After a transitional period, the “egg” made its way to the park and Barr was inspired to redesign the piece, giving it a new life and a new name. Barr transformed the piece into a set of stone mysteries about life cycles. “To preserve the bird, we must preserve the egg.” Thus, this sculpture’s history is also a metaphor.
