Event Horizon figure

For those of you who are regular readers, you already know that I am a huge fan of the artist Antony Gormley. Well, for his public art installation currently on view in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, he hits it out of the park–pun intended. Though the work was originally created in 2007 for London’s South Bank, there is something special about placing this work in New York City. Not only is there a wider variety of building heights in the New York project but also, in a city where people are constantly on the go and rarely take the time to stop and take in their surroundings, this wonderful piece gives you a reason to pause and simply look up. As the artist states, “Event Horizon hopes to activate the skyline in order to encourage people to look around. In this process of looking and finding, or looking and seeking, one perhaps re-assesses one’s own position in the world and becomes aware of one’s status of embedment.”

The installation is made up of 31 life-sized sculptures based on Gormley’s own body. The forms have no details thus representing all humans, not just a particular man or woman. Cast in iron and fiberglass, 27 of the figures can be found perched atop buildings and 4 are set at ground level amongst visitors to the park. The show is about: the palpable, the perceivable and the imaginable. As you encounter the strategically placed figures on the street, you notice others in the distance. If you are standing in the right spot, you can get the impression that they go on forever. On view through August 15th, everyone in NY should head to see this work. And if you get hungry, Shake Shack is right there–this gives you something to do while you wait on line for your burger. Enjoy!