Times Square Arts unveiled Love Ever After in Duffy Square on February 4, 2025. Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio assembled the 50-square-foot heart from more than 48 metal oyster cages, creating a temporary Valentine installation whose components were intended for reuse as research stations and reef infrastructure along New York City's shoreline.
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YouTube: A Reusable Heart in Duffy Square
What to Know
The Heart Was Built From Oyster Cages
More than 48 stacked metal cages formed the open, gridded volume. Their overlapping geometry changed the apparent density, color, and outline of the sculpture as pedestrians moved around it.
Its Second Life Was Part of the Design
After the installation closed March 4, the cages were intended for use as oyster reefs and research stations. The project therefore treated dismantling as a designed phase rather than the end of the work.
Oysters Linked Love and Ecology
The sculpture drew attention to oysters' role in filtering water, creating habitat, and reducing shoreline erosion. A nearby cage filled with shells made the future reef material visible beside the artwork.
It Won the Love and Design Competition
Times Square Arts selected the proposal through the 17th annual Love and Design Competition. Sustainability and the full life cycle of materials shaped the 2025 brief.
A Collaborative Fabrication
The project joined Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio with material advisor Salem van der Swaagh, lighting designer Sofie Bjärnram Nilsson, fabricator Heini, engineer Walter Woodington, kt.COLOR, and Lucifer Lighting.
Valentine Rituals Shared the Site
The sculpture became the setting for Times Square's February 14 weddings, proposals, and vow renewals. Times Square Arts preserves the annual public-art and celebration program.