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]
Bxgrl…PS 1 may still have some work up and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea represents his work.
Step away from the keyboard and get out and see the work. Failing that, here’s his website: http://www.olafureliasson.net/
A for impulse, C for execution and effect.
The falls have done done their thing and should be swiftly removed, especially if causing arboreal distress.
Remember: poems are made by fools like me, but only Robert Moses can make a tree.
Seriously: ca suffit.
Biff,
you are so right,
whenever I see the name “Olafur”, I will think
“environmental disaster”.
But since there is no damage to Manhattan, I doubt very much
the “art world” gives a shit. Most of them only know Brooklyn from driving through it to catch their Air France flight.
Montrose, point well taken. Although I still don’t think this would be to my own taste in a park setting. On his website, I found similar falls in different contexts, which is an interesting contrast.
http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works/sw_16.html
bxgrl, if you want to see some of his other projects, go to http://www.olafureliasson.net . He does indeed have a number of really fascinating and wonderful works. It’s unfortunate many people will only know him for and associate him with this installation.
I think the problem is not just salt either.
There is an oily residue that collects on cars parked near the west ends of Remsen St and Montague st. It may be oily residue from the pumps. the whole thing is just an environemntal disaster from the word go.
But Biff, an installation in a park or off of a fountain would be utilizing either reservoir or ground water, hence no salt, and no damage to flora and fauna.
It would have been interesting to see a smaller work, I agree. A lot of his stuff is very cool, pardon the pun.
The bottom line is that these installations are causing environmental damage. Mayor Bloomberg wants more trees palnted, which is great, but the salt spray from the artificial falls is killing trees in DUMBO, in Brooklyn Heights, and on Governor’s Island. This is terrible for the environment. No one predicted this, but now that the effects are very clear, the falls must be turned off right away.
I’ll take one of Olmstead’s more attractive, natural and environmentally friendly falls over Olafur’s. Pull the plug…