So long to the 3 rhinos

Late last night, workers packed up "The Last Three" sculpture on Astor Place ... Peter Feld shared these top two photos...



...and here's the rhino-less Astor Place this morning...





The 17-foot sculpture had been here since March.

Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner 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."

The two have yet to disclose the new NYC location of "The Last Three" ...

#thelastthree are leaving their home at @astorplacenyc after three marvellous months of raising awareness for the northern white rhinos! ❤️🦏🦏🦏❤️ Thank you everyone who visited and a big thank you to the team at Astor Place for all the love and support! PS - New location of The Last Three in NYC TBA! Stay tuned! #nyc #gillieandmarcart #astorplace #goodbyerhinos #sculpture #publicart #couple

A post shared by 💛GILLIE AND MARC💛 (@gillieandmarcart) on Jun 12, 2018 at 4:37pm PDT

Last day for 'The Three Rhinos' on Astor Place

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

Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros

The last Rhinoceros on this earth

Made from metal by clever craftsmen

Impervious to new cruel bullets

Three taking the noble stance of one

Grand beasts cleverly combined yoga

By making themselves greatly smaller

They may go unnoticed for a while

Dispelling fears of being no more

Vanished, no trace, of living before

Melted as plowshares into weapons

No more to traipse the great savanna

The Chinese with non a firming loss

This deed being but a double cross

Our love shown to the Rhinoceros.

•

peter radley

Previously on EV Grieve:
Goodbye Sudan

Goodbye Sudan

[Photo from Saturday]

Sudan, the world's last surviving male northern white rhino, died last night after months of poor health, according to published reports.

Per the BBC: Sudan, who was 45, lived at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. He was put to sleep on Monday after age-related complications worsened significantly.

Sudan is one of the three rhinos currently memorialized on Astor Place. Last Thursday, Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner unveiled their 17-foot bronze sculpture "The Last Three."

The Schattners recreated the world's 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."

The artists are 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."

The sculpture will remain here through May. You can read more about the project here.

A post shared by Astor Place NYC (@astorplacenyc) on Mar 20, 2018 at 1:56pm PDT

Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino has died. We have tears in our eyes and emptiness in our in hearts as we read this news. It was our greatest joy to spend a wonderful week with him at Ol Pejeta Conservancy last year and we will treasure that time for the rest of our lives. In the last 24 hours Sudan was suffering a great deal from an infection in his leg and unable to stand. The veterinary team from the Dvůr Králové Zoo, Ol Pejeta and Kenya Wildlife Service made the decision to euthanize him. Meeting Sudan changed our lives. It became plainly obvious to us that the extinction of his species in our lifetime was a crime beyond all comprehension and we could not just stand by and watch. How could we, as an intelligent, evolved, and presumably empathetic species let this happen? Moreover, cause this to happen. Poor gentle Sudan spent his entire life fighting. Fighting to stay alive in Sudan where he was captured. Fighting to stay healthy in the Czech Republic zoo, fighting against poachers once he was brought back to Kenya, fighting against an infection in his leg which sadly was his last fight. Unfortunately, Sudan’s death leaves just two female northern white rhinos on the planet; his daughter Najin and her daughter Fatu, who remain at Ol Pejeta. We say goodbye to Sudan, the last man standing on earth and we ask you to commemorate his life if you are in New York by laying flowers at the sculpture site (Astor Place) and at Sudan’s feet or making a donation by visiting www.goodbyerhinos.org SUDAN 1973 - 2018 #GoodbyeSudan #GoodbyeRhinos #RIPSudan

A post shared by 💛GILLIE AND MARC💛 (@gillieandmarcart) on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:26pm PDT

'The Last Three' unveiled on Astor Place; Saltz — 'It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act'

[Photos via @AstorPlaceNYC]

Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner officially unveiled their 17-foot bronze sculpture "The Last Three" this morning on Astor Place...



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."

Visitors to the sculpture are 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."

And as Patch noted in its coverage:

The artists partnered with app developers at INDE to create an informative, augmented reality experience to accompany the statue. The app allows smartphone users to see a life-size, augmented reality version of one of the three last white rhinos. Using the app, you can watch a rhino walk around and meander among the tourists and pedestrians on Astor Place.

The sculpture will remain here through at least May. You can read more about the project here.

Meanwhile, at New York magazine, Jerry Saltz weighed in with some thoughts on "The Last Three" ...

It is an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap. Thank goodness this crap is only temporary.

This surreal-ish kitsch monstrosity is a stack of the last three northern white rhinos on Earth. The bottom one is standing with the next one resting on it, back to back — why? — facing up, and then supports the third one on its feet. It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act.

And!

We must accept that hating this work is not dissing the cause. Not liking the sculpture is to show the cause the deep respect it deserves and not selling it out to gaudy artsy spectacle. As an art critic, I also feel compelled to add that if you like the sculpture, I’m afraid it means that you have pretty bad taste.

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

The rhinos have arrived on Astor Place

They were dropped off last evening...

@evgrieve they have arrived! #astor #art pic.twitter.com/kfXscrZvSq

— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) March 14, 2018

And this morning, as you may have noticed...





The official unveiling is tomorrow morning. Here's a repeat with the info from the previous post:

Gillie and Marc Art have recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – in a 17-foot bronze sculpture to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade.

Please join us in unveiling "The Last Three" to create a legacy of the Northern White Rhinos, and save future species from extinction.

Order of Events

9:00am - Introduction
9.15am - Speeches
10.00am - Unveiling
10.15am - Photos
10.30am - Interviews

Gillie and Marc’s sculpture will be used to raise critical awareness about the plight of the rhinos and ways people can help.

“Our mission is to collect at least 1-million goodbye messages and put them towards a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education” says Gillie, “You can help by leaving a goodbye message for Sudan before he’s gone forever.”

The sculpture will be here temporarily. (Haven't heard an exact timeframe just yet.) You can read more about the project here.



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

World's tallest rhino sculpture arrives on Astor Place this week

Keep an eye out for a 17-foot sculpture of rhinos this week on Astor Place. (Should be easy enough to spot...)

As previously reported, "The Last Three," billed as the world's largest rhino sculpture courtesy of artists Gillie and Marc Art, will take up a temporary residency on Astor Place near the cube.

And its purpose:

The 17-foot sculpture will be unveiled ... to inspire, educate, and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against rhino horn sales. Everyone is invited to get up close and say their goodbyes.

Driven by a false belief in their medicinal benefits, rhino horns are worth more than gold and poaching has condemned the northern white rhinos to the brink of extinction. Only Sudan, his daughter Najiin, and granddaughter Fatu are left.

The sculpture is expected to arrive tomorrow ahead of an official unveiling on Thursday morning. Per the Facebook invite:

Gillie and Marc Art have recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – in a 17-foot bronze sculpture to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade.

Please join us in unveiling "The Last Three" to create a legacy of the Northern White Rhinos, and save future species from extinction.

Order of Events

9:00am - Introduction
9.15am - Speeches
10.00am - Unveiling
10.15am - Photos
10.30am - Interviews

Gillie and Marc’s sculpture will be used to raise critical awareness about the plight of the rhinos and ways people can help.

“Our mission is to collect at least 1-million goodbye messages and put them towards a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education” says Gillie, “You can help by leaving a goodbye message for Sudan before he’s gone forever.”

And here is a rendering of the sculpture...



You can read more about the project here.

Gillie and Marc Art reportedly invested $150,000 of their own money for the project. (There was also a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $50,000.) Cable network Nat Geo Wild is the main sponsor.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A sneak preview of the world's largest rhino sculpture, coming to Astor Place early next year

A sneak preview of the world's largest rhino sculpture, coming to Astor Place early next year

[Photo Thursday by Derek Berg]

Last Thursday, EVG contributor Derek Berg ran into a group of people on Astor Place doing some preliminary planning for "The Last Three," what is being billed as the world's largest rhino sculpture courtesy of artists Gillie and Marc Art.


[Photo by DB]

Here's more about the project, which will be unveiled on Astor Place near the Cube on Jan. 10:

We're honored to announce that in early 2018 Astor Place will become home to the world’s largest interactive rhino sculpture that you can photograph, touch and hug.

Created by internationally acclaimed monumental sculptural artists, Gillie and Marc Art, the incredible 16-foot sculpture will depict the world’s last three Northern White Rhinos, Sudan, Najin and Fatu.

The sculptures unveiling at Astor Place will officially launch the “Goodbye Rhinos” project, which aims to collect one million goodbye messages from across the globe, forming a petition to stop the poaching trade and illegal sale of rhino horn, the cause of the Northern White Rhinos imminent extinction.

After the New York City unveiling the sculpture will then visit major cities across the world to raise awareness of the rhinos plight and conservation.

You can read more about the project here.

Gillie and Marc Art are investing $150,000 of their own money for the project. (There was also a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $50,000.) Cable network Nat Geo Wild is the main sponsor.

We would like to send out a HUGE thank you to Nat Geo Wild for sponsoring the BIGGEST project of our entire lives, and helping us bring you this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the world’s tallest rhino sculpture. Nat Geo Wild has been absolutely amazing to work with! We’re so excited to launch The Last Three, a sculpture showcasing the world’s last three Northern White Rhinos on this planet, in the heart of Manhattan this January to raise awareness about rhino conservation! Nobody has ever seen this footage before, and we would love to hear your thoughts… @natgeowild #natgeo #nationalgeographic @natgeo #rhino #africa

A post shared by 💛GILLIE AND MARC💛 (@gillieandmarcart) on Sep 4, 2017 at 10:52pm PDT