After nearly three months on Astor Place, it's time for "The Last Three" sculpture to move on.
Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner will be moving their 17-foot bronze sculpture, which arrived here on on March 15, later tonight.
The Schattners recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – "to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade." (Shortly after the sculpture's unveiling, the BBC reported that Sudan had died.)
Visitors to the sculpture were encouraged to leave a goodbye message ... with the artists hoping to collect 1 million messages worldwide to "put them toward a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education." You can read more about the project here.
The sculpture had its fans... for example...
❄️ Snow begins to cover "The Last Three" rhino sculpture located in Astor Place, New York City on April 2, 2018. The incredible 17-foot-tall interactive artwork is being created to raise critical awareness about rhino conservation. (Photo: Gordon Donovan) #GOODBYERHINOS pic.twitter.com/ZfP498efaF
— Gordon Donovan (@gordonovan) April 2, 2018
Cool new artwork on Astor Place #nyc. “The Last Three”, highlighting the threat of extinction which looms over rhinos. pic.twitter.com/z3z7cIAUU9
— NYU Primatology (@nyuprimatology) March 25, 2018
Upon its unveiling, New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz wrote that "it is an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap. ... It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act."
In any event, the sculpture won't be going too far: the Schattners will be moving it to a yet-to-be-disclosed new location in NYC.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A sneak preview of the world's largest rhino sculpture, coming to Astor Place early next year
World's tallest rhino sculpture arrives on Astor Place this week
The rhinos have arrived on Astor Place
10 comments:
Oh no....we will miss them sooo much.....
Now if the "Rhinos" had horned "The Cube", that's be art!!!
Sad to see them go, not so sad to see the ridiculous gates around them go.
Don't worry art fans, something just as safe will be coming soon, the Death Star and the luxury condo building nearby would have it no other way.
The gates were put up because the skateboarders were jumping all over it and endangering all of the nearby viewers. I sat there and watched them and it was very scary- no regard for anyone else.
Skateboarders are such punkasses now. Real skateboarders skate the Brooklyn Banks, FiDi building plazas, and other places with little or no foot traffic.
They certainly can't fight one on one which is why I say wait until they all splinter up then pick one to beat down when he doesn't have his pals to save him.
the barricade was an ironic touch, fugly
oh yeah, skateboarders not human and right to use space.
design something for them instead of another corporate cage!
a small halfpipe and bar or whatever in the unused space to the south would be a win win, get Tony Hawk involved!
Skateboarders not human? Who said that?
Right to use space? No, not a right to use the base of the sculpture, not a right to use that plaza in the middle of the afternoon when it’s crowded with people (including children and toddlers).
The “unused” area to the south is overseen by the city parks department, not Village Alliance. It would have been great to have had any number of facilities there. However, it is also the entrance to a high school and numerous retail businesses as well as office buildings. This somewhat limits what can be placed there.
During the Summer Olympics, someone placed a volleyball net between two light posts and a group played every afternoon.
Just noting that every time that I walked through the plaza, I saw people reading the explanatory signs about the plight of the rhinos. Leaving the artistic merit of the sculpture out of the discussion, I'd say that it served its purpose of raising awareness and encouraging action.
Amen!
Post a Comment