Art Installation Puts New Yorkers on the Edge

(via)

In the past month, a number of shocked and worried pedestrians have called 911 reporting jumpers on building ledges. There’s no need to worry—they’re not suicide jumpers, just statues in a public art installation.

The installation, “Event Horizon,” created by British artist Antony Gormley, consists of 31 life-size cast iron and fiberglass replicas of the artist himself. The statues are located on sidewalks and building ledges in the Flatiron District, including the Flatiron Building and the Empire State Building.

The Madison Square Park Conservancy presented the exhibit as part of Mad. Sq. Art 2010, a free outdoor art gallery within the park itself. "Event Horizon" set to remain open until August 15.

Since the exhibit's installation on March 26, the NYPD has been receiving false jumper reports every day, according to the New York Post on April 15.

“It’s a waste of man power,” said an officer to the Post on April 15. “We’re short on cops to begin with and we don’t have enough cops to waste answering calls of statues committing suicide,” he said.

There was a statue present on the Empire State Building when a Yale student jumped to his death on March 30.

The art of the statues are lost due to the shock value of their mere presence. On a Monday afternoon, pedestrians who acknowledged the statues perched on buildings did not hide their distaste upon realizing they were not real jumpers.

“It’s really insensitive,” said Brittany, a pedestrian near the Flatiron Building. “What is the point of this?”

Gormley does not seem to be sure of the meaning behind his work. “The field of the installation should have no defining boundary,” he said on the “Event Horizon” website. “I want to play with the city and people’s perceptions. The gaze is the principal dynamic of the work…in the process perhaps re-assessing your own position in the world.”

(via)A ground level statue at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 26th Street startled countless passerbys when they turn the corner; more than one person walked into it. There are no plaques defining the statues, leaving them open to anything. Some brushed the statue off and continued, while others stopped to take photos and touch it.

Regardless of the installation’s purpose, Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks it’s a good idea. “It’s a great exhibition,” he told the Post on April 16. “It’s one of those things that gets publicity around the world, brings tourists to New York.”