Understanding

A 25-foot-tall neon sculpture greets people near the south end of Brooklyn Bridge Park

Martin Creed, Work No. 2630 Understanding. Presented by Public Art Fund, May 4-October 23, 2016 at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo by Jason Wyche, courtesy Public Art Fund, NY, © Martin Creed 2016, and courtesy the artist, Gavin Brown’s enterprise New York/Rome, and Hauser & Wirth.

Martin Creed, work No. 2630 Understanding. Presented by Public Art Fund, May 4-October 23, 2016 at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo by Jason Wyche, courtesy Public Art Fund, NY, © Martin Creed 2016, and courtesy the artist, Gavin Brown's enterprise New York/Rome, and Hauser & Wirth.

Martin Creed’s original concept for Work No. 2630, Understanding—the British artist’s largest work to date—was a three-part sculpture that read “Peace,” “Love,” and “Understanding.” But that proved too expensive, so Creed had to edit the idea. “I ended up thinking, Maybe all you need is understanding,” said the artist in an interview with the Guardian, pointing out that understanding is needed both in families and in the wider political environment. “I want to be understood. That’s what everybody wants. If we have an understanding of other people, or try to understand them and ourselves, it might help a bit.”

Commissioned by Public Art Fund, Work No. 2630, Understanding is a 25-foot-tall sculpture with 10-foot-tall red neon letters mounted onto a 50-foot-long I-beam that rotates at varying speeds. It was installed near the south end of Brooklyn Bridge Park and could be seen from Manhattan from May to October.