Monday, August 31, 2009

Ugly artwork may grace Queens Plaza

From the NY Post:

Oddball art may be coming to your neighborhood.

The Department of Transportation and local artists yesterday revealed the first two of five new "street art" exhibits that will pop up in public spaces across the city.

An abstract sculpture made of plywood and resembling a stack of children's building blocks and star-shaped toys was set up in the East Tremont neighborhood of The Bronx.

And in Red Hook, Brooklyn, 10 outdoor seats made of old wine barrels with 14-foot-high attached birdhouses were placed in an open space near Columbia and Halleck streets.

In the next several months, three more sculptures will go up, on the Upper West Side, near Queens Plaza, and in Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn.


Gothamist has more photos of the eyesores that Janette Sadik-Khan wants to dump in public plazas.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe covered with loud graffiti and kiosk posters it will blend right into the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Wait till the boyz from 5 pointz gets a hold if it.

Anonymous said...

There goes Krappy again... always a bitter judge of taste.

Taxpayer said...

Why is air conditioning ductwork now considered to be art?

Anonymous said...

All the homeless people will think it's a fancy urinal. I thought the city had no money, yet they're paying out the ass for artwork.

Anonymous said...

Bring back Baroque !!!!! Even half naked allegoricals garner more attention...At least you love it or hate it, but this? It leaves you speechless..

Erik Baard said...

So often I see (and in one case, had to tow by kayak) artwork that's interesting in conception but unattractive and unsafe in execution. What I've come to believe is that artists and the building trade unions and professional contractors need to partner. We can have innovative, surprising public art. Yes, even modern art. But the craft of it can't be ignored. It's simply human nature to respond to the quality of the physical construction as strongly as to the concept behind it -- maybe even more so. After all, well-made gear or daily-life items impart a feeling of satisfaction (and appreciation of the mind behind it) than something academically intriguing but ultimately flimsy.

Of course, much of the issue is budget. Some things can be done well and cheaply though. I like the rainbow made by a volunteer at Two Coves Community Garden:

http://www.twocovescommunitygarden.org/