After noticing our interest in Takashi Murakami, Greg of greg.org invited Gothamist to check out the Murakami installation at Rockefeller Center. We happily accepted and headed over to midtown with Peter Rojas. The huge 30-foot ballons were strung over the rink, and the main sculpture was flanked by smaller areas of mushroom-toadstool growths. It's dramatic in a very different way from Puppy or the Spiders; there is a lot of visual information, with the colorful, complicated forms, as well as details that are enjoyed up close. When Takashi Murakami arrived, he spent some time inspecting the artworks, and told us that he needed to come back and fix some areas. Gothamist was most amused when more than a few blonde women went up to take pictures with him; we're pretty sure it's all because of the Louis Vuitton collection.
Murakami told the small group that he was happy to have his work at Rockefeller Center and that "Mr. Pointy" [the main sculpture (left; click on image to enlarge)] was happy to be there. "Mr. Pointy." That makes us wonder if we should start calling friends "Mr. Socially Inept" or "Ms. Insecure." We especially loved the closed-eye figure at Mr. Pointy's base [right].
The installation officially opens tomorrow and will be viewable for five weeks. Love it or hate it, it's certainly worthing seeing. More about the installation from Gothamist and from Rockefeller Center.
