Results tagged “olafureliasson”

After widespread reports last summer that Olafur Eliasson’s waterfalls installation was damaging lots of nearby plantlife, the River Cafe has gone ahead with earlier threats and decided to sue New York's Public Art Fund and Eliasson to the tune of $3 million for an assortment of damages they say were brought on by their close proximity to one of the falls. Cafe owner Buzzy O'Keefe said, "There were 90 to 120 days of saltwater rain coming down on us. It ate up aluminum and steel. It short-circuited our electrics. We had fires on our roof. The paint was ruined, the awnings were ruined, our outdoor lights are broken, and a lot of our trees just couldn't take it. It's left the place destroyed. They did nothing." After initially denying that the waterfalls were causing any problems, the Public Art Fund did cut down the amount of time they were left on in half during through their run.

As crews begin dismantling Olafur Eliasson's four arboricidal waterfall scaffolds, the mayor's office has released a report asserting that the economic impact of the installation was better than expected. When the waterfalls were turned on back in June, Bloomberg predicted the city would see some $55 million in revenue from the exhibition. A study commissioned by the city’s Economic Development Corporation says that the NYC Waterfalls generated an estimated $69 million for the city. According to City Room, that figure breaks down like so:

Artist Olafur Eliasson's ambitious and controversial waterfall installation ends today after a 15-week run, leaving sick trees, irritated residents, and a collective 'meh,' in its wake. Last week tests conducted by Cornell University concluded that the soil at the River Café, just downwind from the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall, had salt levels almost 10 times higher than normal. “Those levels are amazingly high, and if that level of salt was in the soil for a long period of time, the plants wouldn’t survive,” soil expert John Ameroso tells Brooklyn Paper.

Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg made a curious move by presenting an environmental award to the man behind the Waterfalls project, Olafur Eliasson, and the Public Art Fund, the organization that commissioned the four waterfalls that have run throughout the summer along the city's East River waterfronts. The Doris C. Freedman Award has been given annually for over 25 years to people and groups who enrich the city's environment. However, just last month, the city decided to cut down the amount of hours the falls run in half due to concerns that the spray coming from them was causing damage to nearby plant life. Bloomberg's praise of the waterfalls did not seem to relate heavily to any environmental good they have done the city, instead focusing on the economic boost they have provided as a tourist attraction and adding, "This project proclaims that New York City is home to bold visions and visionaries."

Yesterday, we noted that two kayakers were rescued from the temporary Brooklyn Bridge waterfalls yesterday afternoon, and now there are some more details: The novice kayakers, in a two-man kayak, had been in a group of kayakers paddling from Governors Island to DUMBO and wanted a closer look at the falls. Their group's leader, Erik Baard, described Bert Rosenblatt and Vladimir Spector as "goofing around."

       

Yesterday's overcast skies were not the optimum conditions for documenting the launch of Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls; photographs from the first day tended to deemphasize the falls amid the uniformly gray background. But that's part of what's compelling about the work; it's never the same waterfall twice, being constantly affected by the light, air and your point of view. And as we suggested yesterday, while the project may seem underwhelming when you stare straight at it expecting 'capital-W' Waterfalls, they're much more beguiling when you catch them from a distance, out of the corner of your eye. Spotted from an adjacent bridge or a side street near the water, the fluctuating installation works as a sort of unpredictable conversation between the city's skyline and the water that surrounds it.

Now that we've all had a chance to see the NYC Waterfalls, at least in pictures, from the land and water, let us know what you think so far. Keep in mind that there is still the nighttime perspective to come, during which the falls with be lit up until 9 p.m. And while the NYC Waterfalls are obviously no match for Niagara when seen close up, they do convey a winning charm when unexpectedly glimpsed from afar, from spots like the Williamsburg Bridge. (Guess it's no secret how we're voting.)

              

Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials joined artist Olafur Eliasson and Susan K. Freedman of the Public Art Fund at a press conference this morning at the South Street Seaport, where all four of Eliasson's waterfalls can be seen at once. An aide to the mayor noted that there was more press attending this event than when he announced he was switching his party to become independent.

    

Olafur Eliasson's hyper-anticipated Waterfalls began flowing this morning at 7am, under a dreary, overcast sky. They'll be from 7am to 10pm every day until October 13th, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they'll be turned on at 9am. For a list of good viewing spots, click here.

Olafur Eliasson's Waterfalls start flowing tomorrow morning-- perhaps as early as 7am, but sadly, the Circle Line tours of the bay don't start until Friday. So if you want a good view (or a good picture) of these babies, you're going to have to view them from land. No problem: we've marked the best viewing spots for each one on the map above.

The New York Times has fever also, featuring an image of the public art project that is set to flow starting tomorrow by 9 a.m. First announced in January, the project, conceived by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, involves four man-made waterfalls along the shores of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Governors Island: by the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn, in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35, and on the north shore of Governors Island.

    

And then there were four. A tipster just sent us this shot of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's Brooklyn Bridge waterfall, being tested this afternoon. This completes the teaser set for all the NYC Waterfall aficionados out there. Also seen below are the Governors Island test, the Pier 35 test in Manhattan, and the other Brooklyn waterfall between Piers 4 and 5.

Delayed spoiler alert: The photo here from Curbed reveals what Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s waterfall looks like on Governor’s Island. One of four on the East River, it’s not supposed to be “officially” turned on until next Thursday. Oh well, now we know. For those keeping score, we've now seen the Manhattan-side Pier 35 waterfall test, and yesterday's test of the Brooklyn waterfall between Piers 4 and 5. That leaves just the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge left to spoil! (Send your waterfall test pics to tips(at)gothamist(dot)com or tag them “Gothamist” on Flickr.)

     

The man-made waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson's aquatic art project, were getting another test run this morning. Last week a late night test was witnessed by some at Pier 35, and this morning we saw the Brooklyn waterfall getting a test run at the foot of the Promenade (between Piers 4 and 5).

Although the proposed redesign to Governors Island won’t be finished until at least 2013, the island’s administrators are coming up with plenty of reasons to pay a visit today. Starting May 31st, the island, which has expansive parks, a full-circle bike path, former military bases and a spectacular view of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, will be open on more days and for longer hours than ever before. And the calendar of concerts and events is said to be expanding.

Details have emerged on the ambitious, $15 million East River waterfalls project coming to New York in mid-July to cap off the Olafur Eliasson retrospective at MoMa. The project will consist of four man-made waterfalls, ranging 90 to 120-foot tall, installed temporarily at four sites along the shores of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Governors Island: by the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn, in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35, and on the north shore of Governors Island. The waterworks will flow from 7am to 10pm seven days a week, will be lit after sunset, and operate from July to October.

Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson will work with the Public Art Fund – a nonprofit that brought Anish Kapoor's "Sky Mirror" and Jeff Koons's "Puppy," to Rockefeller Center – to bring freestanding waterfalls to the East River this spring. The project will be officially announced tomorrow, but a source tells the Sun that the waterfalls will rise 60 to 70 feet above the water, which is more than half as high as the Brooklyn Bridge roadway. The spectacle will be visible from the area around the Seaport and Brooklyn Heights.

An exhibit at the main branch of the New York Public Library is drawing outrage from Republicans because some of the work on display depicts former and current members of the Bush administration posing for fake mug shots. Each official in the visionary series, called “Line Up”, is seen holding a slate with a date of arrest corresponding to a date when the official said something about Iraq that was not “reality-based.” Matthew Walter,...

Yesterday, the holiday windows for Louis Vuitton were unveiled and no perfect-for-fashionistas monogrammed bags were on the display. Instead, huge lamps peering out onto the street are in the windows, in a work designed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. Eliasson, who frequently uses lights and lamps (he designed the Weather Project that was a sensation at the Tate Modern in 2004), explained the holiday windows work, Eye See You, in the LVMH magazine:

"Essentially, what I have created is a lamp shaped like the pupil of an eye looking out of the window, but which, at the same time, is a mirror. When you stand in front of the window, you see a reflection of yourself looking into this eye. (…) The only sense that is transgressing the glass is your sense of sight and your desire. When it is dark the lamp will illuminate anyone looking into the window. If people look through the window at the Eye See You lamp, they are illuminated – and that is a nice metaphor, because the products that Louis Vuitton offers to some degree promise to put the consumer in the spotlight."

In 1859, one of the stars of the Hudson River School of painting, Frederic Church, unveiled his massive landscape, , complete with theatrical lighting, to an audience of New Yorkers eager to pay an admission price just to sit in the presence of the work’s profound pictorial beauty.

The Friends of the Highline have selected four design teams to compete for the coveted project of turning the Highline, the elevated train tracks on the West Side, into a public park. Among the finalists involved are Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid's firm, artist Olafur Eliasson of Weather Project fame at the Tate Modern, and a number of other top architectural firms. Curbed has details on the teams, per the Friends of the Highline press release. The designs submitted by the four teams will be on display at the Center for Architecture, beginning July 15 (which is also the night of an opening panel discussion). Gothamist is very excited by this, but we're still fond of the abandoned nature of the Highline, rusting train trestle and wildflowers growing haphazardly. But better for the Highline to be a park rather than be demolished.