Madison Square Park, across the street from Tor, commissions public artworks each season—this summer they are out to make the park look like a 1960’s science fiction book cover. And I am obsessed! It’s an amazing piece. The elongation of the head means you can never quiet reconcile the scale of it within the park, and it’s tranquil countenance is in oppostion to its imposing size. It is our peaceful Zardoz.
Props to spanish artist Jaume Plensa for gathering the city around “Echo.” (Even the title cries out to be a 60’s SF book cover!) No one can walk by without taking its picture or engaging it in someway. “Echo” will be looming over us until August 14th. I only regret we wont be able to see it in the snow. You can see more giant heads and site-specfic artworks on Plensa’s website.
Irene Gallo bows to the big head.
If I didn’t trust Tor, I would have called those pictures some of the worst photoshopping jobs ever. I think that’s what throws me off about it the most – it seems impossible to take a picture where the perspective doesn’t seem totally off. The size is a non-factor in its serenity.
Oh RanchoUnicorno, there is no instance where your username doesn’t make me giggle.
You’re right about the perspective never fitting, no matter your angle. If you look at it from the side, it gets flat and a bit concave. These pics don’t even show the braid hiding behind the head, either. The varying perspectives on this are astounding and I, for one, am all for more optical illusions in our nation’s parks.
It’s really weird to see this thing in life but somehow when I walked past it on Saturday I hardly noticed it. When I saw the picture just now I had a moment of Deja-vu; Hadn’t I seen this somewhere before?
Oh yeah…
Anyway, it’s pretty nifty but somehow extremely appropriate for Madison Square Park.
Kudos to the curators of the Madison Square. More often than not they have selected works each summer that are really fun, smart, and engaging. They know how to work with the environment.
I loved the Roxy Paine trees as well. And Scattered Light was a fun to watch, especaily in the snowy days.
I loved Scattered Light. That one was fun.