Untitled, 2006, by Mimiko Otsubo
The above piece takes advantage of these views by presenting a symbol of Modernism - a glass box - and a miniature Eames chair against the skyline. It's like a distant yearning of all that Manhattan promises, the money, the designer furniture, the sparse interior, the green orb? Whatever it is saying, it's a great piece to see from different angles, juxtaposing the chair against the water, for example. (Note: this image has been modified to change one part of the sculpture. Can you tell what it is? Seeing the large size might help.)
The Scope of Language, 2006, by Stephanie Lempert.
Next to Otsubu's sculpture are three conical pieces, like a cross between the megaphones that cheerleaders use and those viewfinders set up in tourist spots like the Empire State Building. When one looks through one of the cones, they see above, another view of the skyline. A piece of transparent film on the far opening is overlaid with blue symbols that increase in size towards the bottom and the East River. I like the idea of the piece, though I'm not in love with its execution; the (unavoidable?) screw heads and washers are a bit distracting and the symbols look more like grime on the plastic than what they're supposed to be.
Wind Gamelan, 1991, by Bill & Mary Buchen and Color was given me as a name, 2006, by Heather Hart.
Unlike most of the works currently on display at Socrates - part of the 2006 Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition - Wind Gamelan is an old-timer. Five vane-like structures rotate in the wind, turning a small rod and furthermore a small "ball" that knocks the rod every now and then to emit a bell sound. It's no wonder that the piece has been there since 1991. The sculpture is pleasing visually but the aural aspect is much more powerful, though equally pleasant and relatively small in scale. What the chime does (at least on a windy day) is give the public park a sort of background noise while also anchoring the edge of the park where the pieces are located. In other words, the edge is strenghtened not only by visual means (the red railing is also powerful) but by aural means, a rare feat and something that says a lot about our experience of space.
Hair Tree, 2006, by Fabienne Lasserre.
One of my favorite artworks is the above tree wrapped in synthetic hair. I'm not sure if it would appear better with a full canopy in the warmer months or now with the bare branches. Definitely the wind gave it another element, as the long hairs stuck out from the trunk. The piece makes me think of how we like to anthropomorphize ourselves in cartoons and othermedia. Here the artist is taking that one step further and giving the tree traits of ourselves, or even our pets. The artist is asking us to reconsider how we see things around us, how we ascribe parts of ourselves to things that ultimately - from their perspective - have nothing to do with us and could carry on with or without us...probably the latter the way we treat our surroundings.
Directions:
The park is located at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. It can be reached by the N,W trains to Broadway or the Q103, Q104 buses to Broadway and Vernon Boulevard Q19A bus to Broadway and 21st Street.
Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
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