Asaroton 1976 - Boston, MA - Relief Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This 1976 sculpture, entitled Asaroton by Mags Harries depicts assorted items that have been discarded onto the street and crushed by traffic. The work was commissioned for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration.
The Smithsonian Inventory (visit link) describes it thusly:

"The sculpture depicts what remains on the floor of the food market at the end of a busy day. Bronze reliefs embedded in a concrete floor include a fish, flowers, the front page of the Boston Globe newspaper, gloves, crushed strawberries, scattered asparagus, cabbage leaves, broken crates, a crushed lobster cup, an egg box, and garbage."

See addditional photos at (visit link) which adds:
"It's a mess with a millennia-long tradition.

An asaroton, from the Greek for "unswept," is a mosaic depicting the leavings of a feast that have fallen to the floor. The inspiration for the first of these mosaics may have been to honor the wealth of a household, to camouflage the dining habits of its guests, to add a jocular touch to the interior decoration, perhaps all three. One surviving Roman asaroton can be found in the original Italian North End.

Asaroton 1976, which was commissioned for the U.S. Bicentennial, is embedded in a crosswalk in Boston's Haymarket. Nowadays the street sees much less commercial activity, and the market waste depicted in bronze is uncommon in any medium. The artwork was rededicated in 2006; reportedly, pineapples and (not shown here) portobellos are updates to the original debris."

Your impression of the sculpture?: Date Sculpture was opened for vewing?: 01/01/1976 Website for sculpture?: [Web Link] Where is this sculpture?: in the pavement crosswalks at Blackstone and Hanover Streets Boston, MA USA Sculptors Name: Mags Harries

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