By John W Barry
A timeless piece of art that can hold as much meaning for fans of the band Phish as it does for creative minds around the world is going up for grabs at an online auction set to go live on Monday, Dec. 15—at 4:20 p.m.
Call it what you will. “New Piece.” The rhombus. And hail it as a testament to the creative genius of sculptor Tony Smith; or marvel at the inspiration it delivered to Phish co-songwriters Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall.
Hell, if you attended Phish’s 2023-2024 New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden, you were immersed in an entire world—“Gamehendge”—that unfolded like a rock opera and evolved around a giant rhombus.
The actual “New Piece” sculpture sits on a lawn at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. The IAS is one of the world’s leading centers for curiosity-driven basic research; and since 1930, it has served as a model for protecting and promoting independent inquiry. Past faculty members include Albert Einstein.
Sculpture magazine delivered a mind-bender of a description for “New Piece.”
“The 20-foot-9-inch steel sculpture seemingly transforms itself, changing configuration as you walk around or through it.”
Smith, who was born in 1912 and died in 1980, appeared on the cover of the October 13, 1967, edition of Time magazine. The title of the article was, “Sculpture: Master of the Monumentalists.”
The article declares Smith to be, “The most dynamic, versatile and talented new sculptor in the U.S. art world, the darling of critics, the envy of every museum curator. Two years ago, Tony Smith was an unknown, but today serenity is the last thing to be found in his life. He is currently riding a fast-cresting wave of enthusiasm—not merely for his sculpture but for all the huge, wild, pure (and impure) shapes of contemporary art.”
Phish’s history with the rhombus is detailed in a New Year’s Day 2024 article on jambands.com. Click here to read the article, which described the rhombus as “the Princeton, NJ, structure where Anastasio and Phish songwriter Tom Marshall hung and workshopped ideas as teenagers and which plays a role in the Gamehendge epic.”
The 10½ × 18 × 21 1⁄2 in. artist’s proof for “New Piece” comes up for auction by way of Marissa Thomson, whose late great-uncle was Smith. The bidding starts at $250,000 and a portion of the auction proceeds will benefit the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program in Vermont and TeachRock. The auction is being handled by Retroactv.
Neither Phish, Anastasio or Marshall are affiliated with this auction.
Thomson first began to consider Retroactv to handle the auction after attending a Jerry Garcia birthday event on Aug. 1, in Asbury Park, NJ, hosted by Retroactv. The gathering showcased Garcia as a visual artist through officially-licensed fine art prints and apparel. The event featured live music and was live-streamed.
“It was different, specifically with the market of rock and roll and music,” Thomson said of the event. “It’s such a target, niche market. I thought, ‘OK, this is really cool.’ I was looking for an alternative route to sell this and to communicate and to go down that path, as opposed to more traditional auction routes. I was looking more for a targeted audience that would really understand this. That’s what I found with Retroactv.”
Click here to bid on the artist’s proof of “New Piece” beginning on Monday, Dec. 15, at 4:20 p.m. According to avantarte.com, an artist’s proof offers a glimpse into the artist’s creative process and is often considered more valuable than the original. Also, an artist proof may be used for quality control.
Divided Sky is an outgrowth of a vision shared by Phish guitarist and lead singer Trey Anastasio and Melanie Guld, who now serves as the facility’s program director. Divided Sky’s holistic approach integrates the proven 12 Steps with emotional sobriety and Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement, addressing both the emotional and spiritual dimensions of healing. Click here to learn more about Divided Sky.
TeachRock was founded by E Street Band guitarist and vocalist Little Stevie Van Zandt. TeachRock harnesses the sound, stories and science of music for educational lesson plans in classrooms. TeachRock offers lesson plans at no cost to teachers, students and families to foster understanding and learning through the power of music. Click here to learn more about TeachRock.
The Marissa Thomson-“New Piece”-Rhombus story begins in Milan, Italy, where Thomson traveled and ended up seeing Da Vinci’s “Last Supper.”
She was blown away.
“It was kind of like I was in a vortex,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, my god,’ I have to be around art and music more. What am I doing? I need to reconnect with that.”
For Thomson, reconnecting with art involved reconnecting with the artistic side of her family. And that led her to reconnect with the legacy of her late great-uncle, whose paintings graced the walls of the house she grew up in.
Around the same time, Thomson, who lives in Asbury Park, NJ, a global epicenter of music, returned to a passion of hers—percussion. She indulged that passion by performing with others on stage in music venues that included Asbury Lanes and the Low Dive in Asbury Park.
Thomson, in an effort to reconnect with her great-uncle, traveled to New York City to see an exhibit of his at the Pace Gallery. She posted photos of her trip on social media, one of which included her great-uncle’s artist proof for “New Piece.”
Thomson was unaware of the connection between “New Piece” and the rhombus. But one of her friends did and immediately contacted her.
“He saw the post and said, ‘That’s the rhombus. You know what that is, right?’”
Thomson’s response? “Not really.”
Thomson at the time wasn’t the world’s biggest Phish fan. She had however attended some epic Phish gatherings, including The Great Went in Maine and The Clifford Ball in Plattsburgh, NY.
He said, “Ummm, you should look it up.”
Sometime later, Thomson’s cousin posted on Instagram that she was looking to sell the artist’s proof of “New Piece.” Thomson’s cousin is the daughter of Smith’s niece, Thomson’s uncle, is the son of Smith’s sister. Thomson’s uncle inherited the artist’s proof for “New Piece” from his mother; and is looking to unload it now as he gears up for retirement.
“The story,” she said, “is so unique.”
Retroactv Co-Founder & CEO Martin Bispels is thrilled to be working with Thomson and thrilled that “New Piece” could end up in the hands of a dedicated Phish fan.
“Retroactv was built on the belief that art and music create powerful human connections,” Bispels said. “It’s a true honor to help place Tony Smith’s ‘New Piece’ with someone who will cherish it. Moments like these are exactly why we exist. And Marissa’s passion for honoring her great-uncle’s legacy truly embodies the spirit we celebrate at Retroactv.”
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