Brooklyn has some new bicycle-themed public art, so that's cool, in theory. The downside is that it's fugly.
Mexican artist Gilberto Aceves Navarro, in partnership with DOT and NYC Parks’ Arts in the Park, has planted his 122 "Las Bicicletas" sculptures around several neighborhoods in Brooklyn (and Canal Street in Manhattan), with the goal of transcending "cultural differences and can improve many contemporary issues that affect us all." From the project's website:
One hundred twenty-two "bicicletas" sculptures will be installed in ten public spaces throughout Brooklyn and lower Manhattan during the months of July, August and September. The public will be encouraged to visit the exhibit on bicycle, following a route of approximately ten miles of bicycle lanes and paths.
Awesome! Or at least, it would be, if the statues weren't such an eyesore, reminiscent of the worst kind of graffiti that city officials have poured so many taxpayer dollars into trying to eliminate. But unlike graffiti, the bicycles also suck up significant amounts of public space, arranged helter-skelter across the pavement in obstructive clumps, gobbling swaths of ground where people might probably prefer to walk, or, in some cases, ride.
Gothamist Deputy Editor Jen Carlson, who was annoyed to find the bikes sullying the normally picturesque Fruit Street Sitting Area, cites arrangement as her primary issue: "They're all crammed together, it looks like an accident, or like they aren't installed yet but they are," she said. "Placement just seems like an afterthought."
No. (Jen Carlson/Gothamist)
Though their inherent ugliness would still be problematic, perhaps the bikes, with their large black bases, would be better spread apart along the waterfront, or with a landscape that fit them better, she added.
Las Bicicletas first debuted in Mexico City, where 500,000 people pushed by them every day on the way to the subway. Luckily for haters like us, the bikes are only on loan, and will be clogging NYC only until September 30.
