Look up! There’s still time to see the nudes perched on parapets and ledges of skyscrapers around Madison Square Park, some as high as the 57th story. British sculptor Anthony Gormley’s “Event Horizon” is the first project presented by Madison Square Park Conservancy that spreads out into the bustling, business-oriented Flatiron neighborhood. Originally on display in London, Gormley’s installation asks, “Where does the human being fit into the scheme of things?” In the city that never seems to stop moving, these mysterious silhouettes (actual fiberglass and iron molds of the artist’s own body) force viewers to stop in their tracks, to be surprised and perhaps even connect with the stranger beside them: Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Once you’ve noticed one of the figures, your eyes will soon discover more.
“The viewer in some sense becomes the viewed,” Gormley told the New York Times when his exhibit opened. “Like a statue, they become static sculptures themselves looking up.” Passersby can continue to be caught off guard until August 15th.
photo courtesy of jerseygal2009
