Pay No Attention to the Naked Man Atop That Building
Carmela Ciuraru
We should be alarmed, yes? No.
This man is naked and appears ready to jump, but he is iron and fiberglass. And there are thirty-one of him. Allow me to explain:
For more than two decades, the Turner Prize-winning British sculptor Antony Gormley has been using his body as both subject and object. His latest installation, Event Horizon, is no exception. He's created life-size casts of himself, and from March 26 until August 15, those thirty-one sculptures will inhabit various rooftops in New York City, as well as pathways in Madison Square Park, which is presenting the exhibition as part of Mad. Sq. Art 2010. (This marks the first time that one of the program's installations has ventured beyond the park's six-acre confines.)
(Antony Gormley, above, not naked)
"I want to play with the city and people's perceptions," Gormley said in a statement about the project. "My intention is to get the sculptures as close to the edge of the buildings as possible. The field of the installation should have no defining boundary. The gaze is the principle dynamic of the work; the idea of looking and finding, or looking and seeking, and in the process perhaps re-assessing your own position in the world."
The artist originally created Event Horizon as part of an exhibition at London’s Hayward Gallery in 2007. The figures were installed on bridges, rooftops and streets along the South Bank of the Thames, and received nearly universal acclaim. One dissenting critic from the conservative Evening Standard, however, noted his disgust at the sight of Gormley's naked body all over London--though he seemed more appalled by the media hype it received:
"In his omnipresent nudity, [Gormley's] whole body is better known than that of Michelangelo's David or the warriors of the Elgin Marbles, his genitals and buttocks more familiar to millions than those of any porn star. Has any newspaper, free to all takers or overpriced and paid for, failed to publish photographs of both the eminent man and his images of himself? Is there a duke or dustman who has not read of him? Could any pensioner, slumped before a television set, have slept through all the coverage that he's had? Were Leonardo and Raphael ever so much interviewed?"
Luckily, New Yorkers who share that critic's harsh opinion can learn precisely where and when to avert their eyes by checking out a complete map of Gormley's iron men locations here. Sites include landmarks such as the Flatiron Building and the Empire State Building.
On March 9, the first sculpture of the exhibition debuted on top of the building that houses Pentagram Design's New York studio. They were thrilled. "We have a new staffer here at our offices at 204 Fifth Avenue," the company announced on its website. "He doesn't say much, and spends most of his time up on the roof, gazing at the skyline.''
The other sculptures will be installed over the next few weeks, but so far these bare fellows have drawn plenty of attention.
If only public art weren't so...public.
Do you live in New York? Visit the Event Horizon blog, where you'll find updates of the installation schedule, so you can go watch the sculptures being placed in their locales. Today, March 11th, the sites are 928 Broadway between 21st and 22nd Street (9 - 10am); 245 Fifth Avenue at 28th Street (noon - 1pm); and 304 Park Avenue South at 32nd Street (3 - 4pm).
What if you don't live in New York? Well, for one thing, you can at least go here to watch videos about the project, or—even better—you can actually come to New York. The boutique Ace Hotel (at 20 West 29th Street) has been designated the official hotel of the exhibition, which means that when you book a room, you must ask for "The Gormley." It sounds a bit unseemly, but all you're getting is a good deal. "The Gormley" includes a complimentary room upgrade (based on availability, of course), an official guide to visiting the sculptures, a disposable camera with free film developing, an Event Horizon T-Shirt, and even a life-size nude Antony Gormley figure to take home as a souvenir. Okay, just kidding about that last one—but you do get the T-shirt and the camera.
This man is naked and appears ready to jump, but he is iron and fiberglass. And there are thirty-one of him. Allow me to explain:
For more than two decades, the Turner Prize-winning British sculptor Antony Gormley has been using his body as both subject and object. His latest installation, Event Horizon, is no exception. He's created life-size casts of himself, and from March 26 until August 15, those thirty-one sculptures will inhabit various rooftops in New York City, as well as pathways in Madison Square Park, which is presenting the exhibition as part of Mad. Sq. Art 2010. (This marks the first time that one of the program's installations has ventured beyond the park's six-acre confines.)
(Antony Gormley, above, not naked)
"I want to play with the city and people's perceptions," Gormley said in a statement about the project. "My intention is to get the sculptures as close to the edge of the buildings as possible. The field of the installation should have no defining boundary. The gaze is the principle dynamic of the work; the idea of looking and finding, or looking and seeking, and in the process perhaps re-assessing your own position in the world."
The artist originally created Event Horizon as part of an exhibition at London’s Hayward Gallery in 2007. The figures were installed on bridges, rooftops and streets along the South Bank of the Thames, and received nearly universal acclaim. One dissenting critic from the conservative Evening Standard, however, noted his disgust at the sight of Gormley's naked body all over London--though he seemed more appalled by the media hype it received:
"In his omnipresent nudity, [Gormley's] whole body is better known than that of Michelangelo's David or the warriors of the Elgin Marbles, his genitals and buttocks more familiar to millions than those of any porn star. Has any newspaper, free to all takers or overpriced and paid for, failed to publish photographs of both the eminent man and his images of himself? Is there a duke or dustman who has not read of him? Could any pensioner, slumped before a television set, have slept through all the coverage that he's had? Were Leonardo and Raphael ever so much interviewed?"
Luckily, New Yorkers who share that critic's harsh opinion can learn precisely where and when to avert their eyes by checking out a complete map of Gormley's iron men locations here. Sites include landmarks such as the Flatiron Building and the Empire State Building.
On March 9, the first sculpture of the exhibition debuted on top of the building that houses Pentagram Design's New York studio. They were thrilled. "We have a new staffer here at our offices at 204 Fifth Avenue," the company announced on its website. "He doesn't say much, and spends most of his time up on the roof, gazing at the skyline.''
The other sculptures will be installed over the next few weeks, but so far these bare fellows have drawn plenty of attention.
