Monday, July 18, 2016

"Van Gogh's Ear"


I know it looks like a swimming pool, but that's
the name of this 30-foot sculpture by

Elmgreen and Dragset, on display at the
Fifth Avenue end of the
Rockefeller Center
Channel Gardens
until August 16.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

7 comments:

  1. Love the title of this sculpture, but not sure it works all that well visually, but must give it high praise for creativity.

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  2. Well it's different--not sure about it.
    Ann

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  3. It definitely does not look like an ear. You never know what you will see these days.

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  4. A personal interpretation: If it is Van Gogh’s ear it is a severed ear. Therefore being upside down would be acceptable. Seen upside down, that is, rotated 180º, the vertical swimming pool does stylistically resemble an ear. And the diving board subs as an earring. So, the title is apt. The swimming pool itself harks back to the Dada found objects such as Fountain dating to 1917 (six months from being a century ago! One certainly couldn’t call Van Gogh’s Ear avant garde, pretentious, maybe, in my opinion, but I’m now an old coot). As the previous art work, Bottle Rack was by Marcel Duchamp and dates to 1914! Mostly I think of Claes Oldenburg beginning from half a century ago. Works like Soft Typewriter, Ice Bag; the Tokyo Big Sight Saw; and I just saw this one a few moments ago: Clothes Pin.

    Do I like Van Gogh’s Ear? I don’t know. I find it too derivative, but maybe I could warm up to it. Or cool down by thinking of taking a dip in it. Gravity can take on new forms in one’s imagination. So can swimming pools.

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  5. Wow, I would never have guessed what this represents. Great shot and post.
    xo,
    Jeanne

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Thanks, merci, grazie, danke, hvala, gracias, spasibo, shukran, dhanyavaad, salamat, arigato, and muito obrigado for your much-appreciated comments.