The Whitney needs to learn a little more history (Philadelphia, Franklin's Ghost House), at least as much as the NYT readers - really!
How can the Whitney praise, and pay an artist recycle an idea of Siah Armajani? Mr Armajani is a very well know American sculptor who built a ghost of the original Philadelphia city hall for the bi-centenial. It was a well know, and highly regarded conceptual sculpture. Mr Hammons might be a very deserving artist, but someone at the Whitney should be asking this question. With conceptual art the "piece" is the idea, so duplicating it in this fashion is not an original work. OK, there are no rules in art, but there can be some honor, and integrity.
Hard to imagine why the Whitney is so supportive. At the end of the day, it's poorly designed and not visually interesting. There is nothing to think about here. See it once and your done. It lacks the power of Kara Walker's Sugar Baby and it's certainly not as strong as Matta Clark's Day's End. It's not offensive but it is conceptually weak, perhaps a draft, and should go back to the drawing board.
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looks like something unsafe that the kids would climb on for parkour. not a fan.
this instead of Diller Island? I think the public lost a possible gem.
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It is interesting that Adam Weinberg refers to Hammon's proposed work as 'a kind of ghost monument'. Surely Mr. Weinberg is aware of Robert Venturi's 1976 work titled 'Ghost Structures'. To not to mention Venturi's work Ghost Structures is to infer that Hammon's project is somehow an original concept, especially when just comparing Hammon's work to Calder, which is a stretch. But then again the Whitney does have a lot of Calder's work and none of Robert Venturi's.
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Birds would appreciate the roost, people the eyesore.
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Has anyone addressed the large gas pipeline that was recently installed just there?
Why no mention of Robert Venturi's 1976 work 'Ghost Structures'?
Hammons proposed work 'Days End' is very similar. It would be nice to acknowledge the much admired original in Philadelphia.
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Yes, I agree. Venturi, Brown and Rauch's 1976 Franklin Court work is not acknowledged. It was an outline of Benjamin Franklin's home and print shop and is justly admired. Hammon's proposal comes off as a tinny rip-off of Franklin Court--not at all on the same level as the substantial and original monument in Philadelphia.
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I mistakingly remembered the Philadelphia ghost building as the work of Siah Armijani. Mr Hammons may not know this work, but the Whitney certainly does. Is it okay to fund a variation of a conceptual work by another artist.
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What an amazing sculpture. In reality, the parts look identical to the parts of a big, heavy duty swing set my father had made for us an industrial metal business he owned in 1970.
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