Sfera con Sfera

Bronze sculpture on granite flat-topped pyramidal base, erected 1983. Polished bronze sphere with irregular cutaway panels to sides showing second, internal, polished and raw bronze sphere and cogs. Set on hidden casters to allow rotation. Plaque to pavement at south.

Sfera con Sfera by the artist, Alexander Pomodoro, is one of a series of at least twelve similar sculptures which can be seen in various locations around the world including the United Nations plaza in New York, the University of California, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, and the Cortile del Belvedere at The Vatican Museums - the latter being the most similar but twice the size of the Trinity sculpture. The artist originally expressed an interest in geometry and mathematics and this is apparent in much of his artistic work. He has said of the series that the inner sphere represents the earth, and the outer ball Christianity. Other commentators have suggested that it is a criticism of greed, capitalism, industrialisation, and the exploitation of the planet. The polished bronze and the dynamic nature of this sculpture provides an interesting foil to the grey stone and concrete of the surrounding buildings.