I spotted what I thought was a man on a roof ledge in NY and had a brief freak out until I bumped into (literally) something similar in Madison Square Park. I quickly googled and discovered that this was the work of Anyony Gormley – the sculptures themselves are casts of Gormley’s body; there are 31 of them on buildings around Madison Square Park.
I became pretty obsessed and attempted to find all 31 body forms but only found 12, not too shabby!
More about the exhibit and tidbits from Unurth:
“There seems to have been a lot of debate over the legality of street art in the past few months years, but mostly the debate comes down to a struggle to reconcile the historic objection to artists appropriating public space with an ever-increasing public enthusiasm for artists appropriating public space. It’s funny to think that while some artists are being jailed for their art, some cities are actively competing for street art festivals & exhibits.
Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon is a great example of an enlightened approach; public & private organizations worked together to make it happen (the official guide even includes an introduction from Mayor Bloomberg), and it’s hard to argue that it can have done anything other than benefit local culture & business.
The sculptures themselves are casts of Gormley’s body; there are 31 of them on buildings around Madison Square Park. It’s fun and surprising as you start to spot them, and then they’re strangely enigmatic – sometimes they feel quite ominous, sometimes quite friendly.
“The ambition is to make people visually aware of their own surroundings and the skyline above their heads.”
The exhibit runs until August 15; details here.
Chchchhhheck it out if you’re in the city, all you have to do is look up!
Photos: Unurth
22 comments
This is so awesome!!!! I am heading to NYC for a couple days before August 15th… I am so excited to try and find them all!!! Thanks for sharing!
Carissa
http://copiouscouture.blogspot.com
Oh I wish I could see this in real life…he did a similar thing in London a while ago, which was really amazing! x
these are awesome. here are some photos my friend mk took of event horizon: http://bubblewraprefugees.com/2010/04/24/event-horizon-2/#more-938
ha, we have something similar here as well, is kind frighting yet amazing idea! hehe
ooo, they’re great aren’t they? There’s a beach near me with the same statues lined up all along it…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Place
Great blog and lovely photos!
Xoxo , sarai.
brainstorm4.blogspot.com
I was in MSP only yesterday. I’ve only spotted about three so far, but I am going to go back & see how many I can get! LLGxx
Pretty cool! I would have wanted to try and find all of them as well. x
http://www.FashionSnag.com
wow! amazing photographs, geri! i can’t wait to see this in the city, somehow i haven’t noticed it yet.
that is cool! I am going to Ny soon I wil try to spot them
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Hey this is pretty cool.
Although I would kinda be freaked out if I didn’t know the back story behind this…
http://thatsjustmybag.onsugar.com/
i love antony gormley, saddened by the fact i can not visit them!
12 is definitely a good effort!!! x
antony gormley is SO incredible. x
So cool! I wish I was there!
I see 2 around madison square garden
Nice find, I hope I’ll have a chance to catch some of these when I go to New York!
how bizarre. here in oxford (UK) we’ve got a statue like that on top of a building in the center of town… i had walked by it a hundred times before noticing. i wonder if there’s any connection? x
Oh! I ran into the London installation of this too.
There’s a sculpture similar to this in Wellington NZ, where the sculptor is leaning out over the waterfront, the wind holds him up… made of cast iron.
“The ambition is to make people visually aware of their own surroundings and the skyline above their heads.”
sounds cool. but you’re right, it can really freak people out!
wow, awesome idea!
Very interesting! I would love to discover the 31 bodies, but unfortunately I am not living in NYC. Let us know when you found all! ^^
xoxo Sandra
http://glamirrorous.com