Workers have removed the barriers around the Keith Haring sculpture that sits in the public plaza at 51 Astor Place.
Several people have pointed out that it looks as the sculpture is on some type of turntable-swivel-something base…. meaning you could give it a spin. Maybe to make up for the temporarily displaced cube at Astor Place.
Anyway, after doing some field testing, the sculpture does not rotate.
So people will have to come up with different ways to interact with it.
The circa-1989 sculpture, titled "Self Portrait," arrived here on Dec. 2
I'LL make spinboy rotate, even if it takes all day of me pushing and pulling.
ReplyDeleteI-)
Well, Keith's work is a hell of a lot nicer than that over-rated, ugly cube anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping people will cover it in graffiti as a means of "interaction".
ReplyDeleteHow many lead singers does it take to replace a light bulb?
ReplyDeleteOne.....but they don't screw it in....they just kinda hold it there, and wait for the rest of the world to rotate around them.
Being in and around Death Star and the East Village today spins my head.
ReplyDeletePeople will interact with it....some will admire, some will photograph, some will laugh, some will scratch their heads, some will throw tomatoes, some will spit, some will graffiti and some will just ignore it. But you can be sure nobody will make it rotate...it is permanently in that position. For good reason too..imagine someone rotating it and another person walking by gets smacked with the protruding appendage! Now that would make one helluva headline and even bigger lawsuit. Of course the neighborhood might just sue to get rid of this farce as well. The Rosenthal sculputure, Alamo (a.k.a. the Cube) has much more content and greater aesthetic appeal as a minimalist sculpture than this pseudo-manufactured "Haring" thing.
ReplyDeleteThis corporate art installation is the real estate developers' way of saying, "We're beyond fucking the East Village at this point, now we're fisting you guys."
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great piece of public art. And it's declamatory and kick-ass, not something to play with and spin around. I love The Alamo, and I think I'll like this a lot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you can use it as a urinal!
ReplyDelete- East Villager
Sit on "this" and spin.
ReplyDeleteI suppose unless art is placed on a turntable then nobody will appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you cannot expect anyone to appreciate a sculpture unless you can spin it around or sit on it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so it doesn't spin.......can it hold a bullwhip with it's butt cheeks?????
ReplyDeleteFirst- apply a dunkin donuts sign. Secondly- wait for some dipshit to slam his or her vehicle into it. Happy New Year!
ReplyDelete