BHA Wants Waterfalls Shut Down
“New York City’s Waterfalls”, the public art exhibition of four man-made waterfalls by artist Olafur Eliasson, is scheduled to end on October 13th. But the Brooklyn Heights Association wants them dismantled earlier, reports the Brooklyn Paper. Salt-soaked spray from the falls has been damaging and possibly even killing trees caught in their mist; the spray…
“New York City’s Waterfalls“, the public art exhibition of four man-made waterfalls by artist Olafur Eliasson, is scheduled to end on October 13th. But the Brooklyn Heights Association wants them dismantled earlier, reports the Brooklyn Paper. Salt-soaked spray from the falls has been damaging and possibly even killing trees caught in their mist; the spray has also damaged cars parked by the River Café. Those calling for the faucet to be turned off swear their objection isn’t aesthetic, although the Brooklyn Paper noted that the falls, by the BQE, Brooklyn Bridge, Pier 35 in Manhattan and along the FDR, were supposed to be viewable from many Brooklyn spots. Instead, they say, they look “more like a giant Erector Set from the borough’s shores.”
TREE-BACLE [Brooklyn Paper]
Olafur Eliason is killing trees, and he apparently doesn’t even care. And I thought he was interested in nature … interested in killing it I guess!
Jelly Donut;
It’s one thing to have a steel roadway sitting hundreds of feet over a running salt/fresh water river, it’s another thing to spray a mist right under it. I doubt very much that much salt from the east river normally makes its way into the air above it (when one is near the East river, there is normally no saltish smell). However, it is asking for trouble to purposely mist the air right under a steel roadway with salt water. Corrosion is directly related to the degree of exposure.
gates were great, well done, waterfalls are not so much. the intended effect of seeing a torrent of water would have been really cool, instead we see a huge scaffold and a litlle bit of water. meh
As for the water corroding the bridge….You know, the bridge is built over the East River, it is going to be exposed to salt water…
kuroko- thanks! I’ll have to try to see his work when I’m in Manhattan again- I loved Reverse waterfall and 1 m3 (I think that was the title- a light installation).
It’s the continuous spray of salt water that is the problem. Note that saline waterfalls do not occur in nature. These man-made ones are causing bad things to happen around them.
Public art at its most idiotic. The trust for public art must be eating this up. They love to piss off the public with one of their installations. It is what modern art is supposed to do: annoy.
Denton;
It depends upon the atmospheric conditions around a seacoast town. I know of some places (including towns in coastal Japan) where the salt atmosphere is a problem for the cars. Moreover, here you have a situation where salt water is being sprayed into the atmosphere.
I fail to see how cars could be damaged by this. Their are cars on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard too. I could be wrong.
I was excited hearing about it and watching them get built. But they turned out kinda blah. We even took the boat tour to see them. Loved the Gates, this ain’t them. But give Bloomberg credit for trying to make the city a more interesting place. Here’s my favorite shot of the falls:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/102312299
A better waterfall display
http://gizmodo.com/5036399/inkjet+like-smart-waterfall-makes-animated-falling-water-show
Biff…I disagree on the primary complaint…these works are failures…the salt water ate my tree/car complaint came two months after they were turned on.