Waterfalls

Are they the most spectacular thing you'll EVER see?  No.  Is it an interesting piece of installation art?  Yes.  Waterfalls are something that the environment they're in constructs.  If you build waterfalls into New York's East River would you put rocks and ferns around them?  No!  You'd make them out of scaffolding, the most common structure in our town.   I was thinking about the viewpoint of them as I was biking between the two of the ones in Dumbo and comparing them to Olafur Eliason's other works I'm familiar with.  The Weather Project created a sunlit day inside the Tate Museum. The Take Your Time exhibit at the MOMA altered individual rooms in subtle and shocking ways with light.  Seeing the world in black and white, as you walk into a room is a very unexpected experience.  Seeing the sun shining in the middle of a building is unforgettable.  Basically, he seems to be taking an expected experience (waterfalls, the sun, etc) and placing it in an unexpected place.  Waterfalls on the East River is pretty amazing, I think.  My one issue is that it would be nice if, like in nature, you were actually able to experience the waterfalls in a more intimate way.  The beauty of coming across a real waterfall is that you can walk around it, sit at the bottom and feel the water spray up on you, stand up at the top and watch the water plummet down.  Its a little frustrating to see a waterfall from 60 feet away. 

Of course, everything looks better with a spectacular sunset. 

Comments

[Ricky]

I think the sunset is more interesting in that picture than the waterfall.