Labor Day themed sculptures: Hammering Man in Seattle and beyond

by Jamie Rhein on

Outside the Seattle Museum of Art is a kinetic sculpture called Hammering Man. The man who lifts and lowers his hammer four times per minute is one of several Hammering Man sculptures by artist Jonathan Borofsky.

Through his Hammering Man statues, Borofsky’s aim is to pay tribute to the workers of the world, as well as, indicate that the world is linked together through our labors. The sculptures hammer away at the same time.

Borofsky’s sculptures, in a way, are an artist’s version of what Matt Harding demonstrates with his dancing. The same dance, but the location changes. (Read Jerry’s Talking Travel interview with Matt here.)

The Seattle version is the second largest of Borofsky’s Hammering Man creations. The largest is in Frankfurt, Germany. You can also see outside sculpture versions in Dallas, Texas; Seoul, Korea; and Basel, Switzerland. Other versions are in wood and are located at various museums.

Last summer, when we went to Seattle on the way to Montana, we passed this sculpture on a Seattle Duck’s tour of the city. At the time, I didn’t know that the piece was part of a larger concept and could not view the whole sculpture from where I was sitting. In order to see it, we drove back to the museum.

As Borofsky says about this particular work, “At its heart, society reveres the workers. The Hammering Man is the worker in all of us.”

The statue, and the others like it, seems fitting for a Labor Day shout out.

The New York City Waterfalls

by Jeremy Kressmann on

On June 26th, New York will be surrounded by massive towers of water. Sound like the fulfillment of some horrific biblical prophecy? It’s actually the product of a unique collaboration between the city of New York and artist Olafur Eliasson, called The New York City Waterfalls.

Following in the footsteps of other massive outdoor art projects like The Gates, artist Eliasson is installing four enormous man-made waterfalls along the shores of the New York waterfront. The giant scaffolding structures supporting the falls are well underway at locations scattered around Lower Manhattan including Brooklyn Heights, Governor’s Island and best of all – underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

Between June 26 and October 13, these soaring torrents of water will run seven days a week, redefining the landscape of downtown New York. Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who is responsible for the project, has a history of large scale public works of art, including a recreation of the sun inside London’s Tate Modern gallery.

If you’ll be visiting New York this summer, make sure to take a stroll down to the water in downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn to check them out. They’ll be illuminated each evening for further dramatic effect. For an even closer view, the city will even be offering free 30 minute boat tours sponsored by Circle Line.

Knitting public art

by Jamie Rhein on

I don’t knit. I’ve tried, but even when I’ve attempted a scarf, it ends up weird shaped. Anna knits. She’s waxed poetic about it in a post about the pleasures of knitting and travel. Here’s another reason to grab some knitting needles and yarn.

While leafing through a back copy of Reader’s Digest at my in-laws this weekend, I saw a snippet on women in Houston, Texas who are turning their scraps of unfinished scarves and other knitted items into public art. They are wrapping park benches, fire hydrants, bike racks–anything that can use a bit of color and dressing up. The group is called Knitta and has been doing their thing since 2005.

They aren’t the only ones. Knitters in the Midwest are also prettying up the world with their craft. There’s a woman in Yellow Springs, Ohio, one of those incredibly artsy, literary towns that I adore, who has dressed a tree with help from others. With as gloomy as Ohio can look in the winter, what a great idea for making folks smile.

If you happen to pass by some knitted art, and you might–the women in Houston have knitted art in El Salvador, Paris and at the Great Wall of China– maybe you’ll get some inspiration to knit some art yourself.

Sigmund Freud is not suicidal even though he’s hanging from a building

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a life-size statue of Sigmund Freud hanging high above the ground outside the Trade Center Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He’s created quite a stir. Good Samaritan types saw the statue hanging by one hand from a pole 7-stories up and thought it was a real man in distress. After they called the police and the truth was discovered, there must have been a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just Freud.”

This statue of Freud by Czech sculptor David Cerney has been hanging around in a variety of spots for a year or more. Most recently, Freud was hanging in out in Chicago. Before that, he was hanging from a pole in Prague. Freud will be in Grand Rapids, possibly accumulating more than a dusting of snow, until the spring thaw.

As for Cerney, here’s an intriguing interview with him in the Compass Prague. He moved back to the Czech Republic since the Americans he met in New York City were a bit too friendly. That’s not something you hear that much. (Actually, this is my interpretation of what he said. I may be off the mark.) [via New York Times]