We do need them. And anything else Olafur Eliasson can give us.
Anytime I want to see water, I can go to the Charles River. Or cross it, and go down to the Boston Harbor. People in NYC have easy access to water, and if they want falls, can go the the Jersey Palisades. But Eliasson's work is for thinking about water, which everyone on Earth needs to do.
Eliasson is half-Icelandic, and you could say in Iceland they have a thing about falls, as well as many falls to have a thing about. In Icelandic folklore, falls symbolize strength, and one of the most sick-making things you could ever do is sell your waterfall to someone else. A great Icelandic heroine of yesteryear is a woman whose father drunkenly sold his falls; over many years, she crossed the island nation many times, barefoot, to talk the new owner into giving it back. One day, we might know just how she felt.
I think we need to look at Eliasson's mechanically achieved falls as an almost Leonardesque parable of resource management -- among so many other things.
I guess we just have to disagree about the need for steel-scaffolding and electric pumps to make us think about water. Makes me think about construction sites. Makes me think how sad and futile man's efforts are to imitate nature. Makes me very glad there are real waterfalls.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 2:04:36 PM
A comment from the NY Times:
"What a waste of $15.5 million. At least The Gates in Central Park were mildly attractive. These waterfalls with their ugly scaffolds are out of place and utterly pointless.
Artists who squander their money on projects approved by the city should have to make a matching donation to the city charity of their choice"
— Posted by bch
Mayor Bloomberg stated that this project may generate up to $40 million in tourist revenues. It seems we have reached the point where "art" has gone beyond fashion and become pure hype. Still, if an investment of $15 million can gross $40 million, why complain?
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 3:27:06 PM
As one of the art tourists who came to NY just to see The Gates, I agree with the naysayers.
If he had rigged them to cascade off the Brooklyn Bridge, giving the old stone the illusion of something natural, it would have at least had some interest or whimsy.
Posted by: pedestrian | Jun 26, 2008 4:27:06 PM
And water is not the only thing plunging in New York today.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 4:50:28 PM
We live not in an era whose art is over-hyped, but whose real art form /is/ hype. Those sages watching us from a distant planet stroke their beards and wonder if we have the slightest inkling that for a long time now, more creativity and expertise have gone into our marketing than into our product. The art world is as guilty as anyone, guiltier than most. But there are artists who are an exception to all that claptrap, as much as they may seem to be the main beneficiaries of it. To know one when you find it, it's good to keep an open mind.
Hype has not only replaced art, but politics and economics as well. Hype is an interesting word. According to the OED, it is a US slang word of unknown origin:
"Deception, cheating; a confidence trick, a racket, a swindle, a publicity stunt"
Art, to me, is the exact opposite of hype. It is genuine, true, creative and yes, beautiful.
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Comments
Just what we need. Ersatz waterfalls.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 12:38:00 PM
We do need them. And anything else Olafur Eliasson can give us.
Anytime I want to see water, I can go to the Charles River. Or cross it, and go down to the Boston Harbor. People in NYC have easy access to water, and if they want falls, can go the the Jersey Palisades. But Eliasson's work is for thinking about water, which everyone on Earth needs to do.
Eliasson is half-Icelandic, and you could say in Iceland they have a thing about falls, as well as many falls to have a thing about. In Icelandic folklore, falls symbolize strength, and one of the most sick-making things you could ever do is sell your waterfall to someone else. A great Icelandic heroine of yesteryear is a woman whose father drunkenly sold his falls; over many years, she crossed the island nation many times, barefoot, to talk the new owner into giving it back. One day, we might know just how she felt.
I think we need to look at Eliasson's mechanically achieved falls as an almost Leonardesque parable of resource management -- among so many other things.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Jun 26, 2008 1:42:15 PM
Elatia,
I guess we just have to disagree about the need for steel-scaffolding and electric pumps to make us think about water. Makes me think about construction sites. Makes me think how sad and futile man's efforts are to imitate nature. Makes me very glad there are real waterfalls.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 2:04:36 PM
A comment from the NY Times:
"What a waste of $15.5 million. At least The Gates in Central Park were mildly attractive. These waterfalls with their ugly scaffolds are out of place and utterly pointless.
Artists who squander their money on projects approved by the city should have to make a matching donation to the city charity of their choice"
— Posted by bch
Mayor Bloomberg stated that this project may generate up to $40 million in tourist revenues. It seems we have reached the point where "art" has gone beyond fashion and become pure hype. Still, if an investment of $15 million can gross $40 million, why complain?
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 3:27:06 PM
As one of the art tourists who came to NY just to see The Gates, I agree with the naysayers.
If he had rigged them to cascade off the Brooklyn Bridge, giving the old stone the illusion of something natural, it would have at least had some interest or whimsy.
Posted by: pedestrian | Jun 26, 2008 4:27:06 PM
And water is not the only thing plunging in New York today.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 26, 2008 4:50:28 PM
We live not in an era whose art is over-hyped, but whose real art form /is/ hype. Those sages watching us from a distant planet stroke their beards and wonder if we have the slightest inkling that for a long time now, more creativity and expertise have gone into our marketing than into our product. The art world is as guilty as anyone, guiltier than most. But there are artists who are an exception to all that claptrap, as much as they may seem to be the main beneficiaries of it. To know one when you find it, it's good to keep an open mind.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Jun 26, 2008 5:45:30 PM
Elatia,
Hype has not only replaced art, but politics and economics as well. Hype is an interesting word. According to the OED, it is a US slang word of unknown origin:
"Deception, cheating; a confidence trick, a racket, a swindle, a publicity stunt"
Art, to me, is the exact opposite of hype. It is genuine, true, creative and yes, beautiful.
Posted by: Jared | Jun 27, 2008 10:04:22 AM
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