New York City Streets The Best Museum of All

Cara Buchannon / Columbia Daily Spectator

Alexander Calder’s Saurien

Sprawling its neon-orange legs across the street in midtown Manhattan, Alexander Calder’s outdoor sculpture Saurien marks the entrance to the IBM building and provides an eye-catching contrast to the glassy gray skyscraper. Since it obstructs the direct pathway to the doors of the building, the structure, called a “stabile,” forces passersby on the street to choose—walk around the 30-foot-high work of art or simply walk through it. The pointy spines that surmount this spider-like, asymmetric structure attract the attention of the passersby upward, just as the surrounding buildings do. However, unlike these buildings, Calder’s outdoor sculpture is different not only in its comparatively shorter height but also in the fact that it seems to immerse itself in the crowd by creating archways to walk through and hollow spaces that make use of this small area over which it extends. In this innovative usage of space, the sculpture almost mocks the monolithic structures that surround it. Saurien, with its unusual crown-like top supported by curved legs and its striking color, offers comic relief amid the symmetrical and stern steel buildings. Calder’s work is indeed a testament to the necessity for outdoor art, even in built-up urban settings

Robert Indiana’s Love Wall

What is on every commuter’s mind as he walks to his midtown office from the subway in the morning? Love may not be the most obvious answer, but thanks to sculptor Robert Indiana, it is in fact a very likely one. Placed in the core of Manhattan’s business center, Indiana’s bronze Love Wall is a compilation of four versions of the infamous “love” logo. Indiana’s original sculpture made its debut with a tilted O, with the four letters of the word “love” made into a perfect square, suggesting equality, symmetry, and harmony. In this new edition, the overall square shape remains, but the word “love” has been multiplied by four. The four combined originals are inverted as mirror images, with the four Os touching in the center and the Ls, Vs, and Es facing each other and framing the center circular letters. This new rendition perhaps suggests, amid the passing capitalists in midtown, an abundance of love. Indeed, each of the pairs of letters within the sculpture seem to pair off into couples facing one another. Though viewers can see through the open spaces in the letters of the repeating word, the thickness of the sculpture and its self-contained square suggest solidarity. The outdoor structure reminds New Yorkers passing in taxis and on the street to remember the word it uses as an outdoor art exhibit and message to all.

Other Outdoor Art

1 Adam Peachy and James Evans, Mural
October 2007 to October 2008
Baruch Playground, Manhattan

2 Steve Tobin, Steelroots
Oct. 15, 2007 to May 2008
Prospect Park, Brooklyn

3 Anna Craycroft, Lo! The Fiery Whirlpool
Barretto Point Park, Bronx

4 Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City