On Tuesday, workers plopped down Miquel Barceló's Gran Elefandret. It weighs 26 tons, roughly the same size as the Whole Foods salad bar. Would the statue look better with some colorful zip ties around its trunk?
WYNC has more on it here. It's up through May, so you have time to form an opinion...or of you want to weigh in now.
LIza Bear recently posted an interesting video interview with Miguel Barcelo about Gran Elefandret:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/nothingofficial#p/u/0/wKnKQyyphLg
Looks like it's made out of dung.
ReplyDeleteIt's rather disturbing because elephants don't actually do that. It would be like a giraffe balancing on its fuzzy antennae. Only a unicorn balancing on its horn would make "sense" (not that I'd prefer that statue, given that unicorns are the fro-yo of the animal kingdom).
ReplyDeleteElephants need to have their trunks up to be lucky. I'm afraid I don't really like it.
i take this as commentary on this circus that is to come when cooper union has their way with the redesign of astor place.
ReplyDeleteActually, elephants *do* do that when they really, really, really have to stifle a sneeze, like if they're in a movie and don't want to disturb anyone. This rarely happens because movies are usually too expensive for them, but believe me, I know what that feels like.
ReplyDeleteQ: Why are elephants so wrinkled?
ReplyDeleteA: Have you ever tried to iron one?
Thank you very much! I'll be here ALL weekend!
@glamma
Yes
It's sooooooo artistic! Yay.
ReplyDeleteYes, it looks like dung, but I kind of like it.There are some good and bad things about it's location.
ReplyDeleteGood angles: Crossing the street and viewing it looking uptown with the trees behind it (while trying to avoid the monstrosity in the background at 1 Union Square South), looking west with the park as background, looking downtown-ish.
Bad angles: From a lot of angles looking east it gets lost, and nothing on earth can ever look good with Zekendorf Towers as backdrop, as this photo demonstrates.
I think it's great! But I liked the zip ties too ;)
ReplyDeleteI recently saw this elephant doing his bit at the new Phoenix! I was sitting on a hay bale in the front row, sipping my chamomile tea - house blend - when he sucked up all my chex mix!
ReplyDeleteKidding! :)
It looks like it's missing half of its limbs. Plus I'd be afraid to stand near it for fear it would fall over. Maybe they should stick it in T.G.I. Fridays.
ReplyDeleteIt needs a sweater.
ReplyDeleteI like this elephant. He's cute. Or she's cute. I can't tell...Can someone take a picture from the other side?
ReplyDeleteIT LOOKS LIKE DOO DOO.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJv2Mugm2RI which is awesome.
ReplyDeleteI welcome anything to distract me from all you crabby critical NYers! I love the elephant and when I caught my first fleeting glimpse of it as I descended into the subway it made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteKitsch in its grandest form. Bad taste aside, does anybody worry that this tall piece of dung may one day suddenly tip over during an earthquake or when hit by an errant trunk?
ReplyDelete