New York, Jan 31 (EFE).- New York today welcomed its new artistic attraction: a huge futuristic “bean” embedded under a skyscraper and designed in the likeness of the famous sculpture “The Bean” in downtown Chicago, works in both cases by the Indian artist Anish Kapoor.
The quiet Tribeca neighborhood where it is located was almost used to seeing the partially mirrored surface of the massive steel sculpture, which has loomed above protective coverings since construction broke out in 2019, on the corner of a residential block.
But this morning, the neighborhood was shocked to see their unobstructed reflection on the sculpture, completed and unveiled today without public announcement or attention-seeking by the Alexico Group, the real estate developer of the skyscraper dubbed “the Jenga tower” for its puzzle.
Kapoor’s new “bean,” a scaled-down version of the “Windy City” tourist icon, was immediately targeted by passers-by who gawked at each other as they passed, filmed themselves on their phones, circled in and out, or they tapped him curiously.
However, it also highlighted the indifference of many others, since unlike the public sculpture in Chicago, whose arched shape allows you to pass under it, this piece only offers the public the possibility of interacting with one of its domed sides, the one that looks outward.
The sculpture was initially conceived to occupy the northeast corner of the building – a deep space that stands some six meters high – by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron 15 years ago, when construction began, Alexico Group explains in its Web page.
As reported by The New York Post, the work has had a cost of about 10 million dollars, not much more than what the most expensive apartment currently for sale costs, with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms spread over about 200 square meters: 7.95 million, indicates the CityRealty portal. EFE
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