Monday, May 14, 2012

Anish Kapoor's Olympic Tower 'Definitely Art'


It might not look traditionally beautiful and it definitely stands apart from the surrounding cityscape, but the new Olympic Tower is now the city's largest sculpture and is set to receive upwards of 1 million visitors per year. The Anish Kapoor Designed structure is titled The ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower, and while it's admittedly 'unsettling' says the artist, it's about the full-body experiential journey of orbit, also reminding that Parisians, at first, deemed the Eiffel Tower "ugly". Take a look, what do you think of the tower?
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/London’s-Olympic-tower-is-“definitely-art”-says-mayor/26467

I can't comment on the experience...as I'm not there...but I'm not really a big fan of the aesthetics here. It's a lot of personal preference, but I would have rather had seen more elegance in the form, more elegance between the forms. I feel that orbit is all about path, arc, movement, flow...and with this sculpture I see a lot of stoppage...a lot of intersections...a lot of rigidity. The gentle arcing curves are confused by the substructure of straight bars and the sharp angles of the geometric pattern...the long swoops seem segmented and pixelated due to the undulation of the facets. The red skeleton seems constricted by the walkways toward the center and then awkwardly breaks through, the walkway changing angles and leading to an observation deck. I don't hate it...but It's definitely not too high on my list of giant artistic landmarks....commenting on the aesthetics alone at least. Just not for me I spose....which actually surprises me as I tend to like Kapoor's work for the most part...

Note: due to this being a very interactive structure the experience may greatly enhance the piece...From a purely aesthetic realm, though, my feelings are that this design does not positively enforce the desired experience.

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