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'Wrapped Future' Explores Closed Public Spaces at Shuttered Park Near BAM

By Janet Upadhye | May 29, 2013 2:30pm
 'Wrapped Future' is a new public art display made of orange mesh at Triangle Park near BAM.
'Wrapped Future' at Triangle Park
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FORT GREENE — Cambodian artist Lim Sokchanlina wanted to bring attention to public spaces that have been fenced off and made inaccessible to the community.

And his new art display called "Wrapped Future" is doing just that.

Lim cloaked Triangle Park, near BAM, with orange safety fencing that is impossible to ignore and highlights the fact that the park itself has been closed to the public for nearly three years.

“I see these cities that have changed so fast, especially the landscapes, all wrapped with fences and abandoned spaces,” Lim told the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. “The story behind the fence is really the subject matter. It’s really talking about environment, urban planning, development.”

As part of the Seasons of Cambodia art festival, "Wrapped Future" has touched on a sensitive topic for the community.

The closing of the park in 2009, in conjunction with the development of nearby Fowler Square Plaza, sparked community outrage.

"People are livid that DOT would spend millions to develop a street plaza when there is an existing park just a block away," said local Joe Gonzalez.

The park, owned by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, was shuttered due to sub-surface conditions, according to the Brooklyn Partnership, and will cost an estimated $1.5 million to renovate.

But after years of waiting, locals are anxious to get inside the green space.

"We want just a little place to sit in the neighborhood that's green," Gonzalez said. "We don't want anything fancy, just a place to catch your breath."

The Brooklyn Partnership is currently working with elected officials to find funding to reopen the neglected green space.

Meanwhile, the orange mesh artwork of a visiting Cambodian artist managed to bring this hotly debated issue back into the limelight.

“Lim has really started an absolutely relevant conversation, and he’s always got his finger right on it, whatever the topic of discussion is,” Erin Gleeson of Season of Cambodia, told the Partnership.