discovering columbus by tatzu nishi opens to the public in new york city
japanese artist tatzu nishi — known for his temporary artspaces constructed to transform the bystander’s interaction with common monuments or architectural details — opens ‘discovering columbus’ to the public. a stone statue carved in the likeliness of christopher columbus by italian sculptor gaetano russo in 1892 in new york city has been reimagined by nishi with the help of the public art fund.
a perspective picturing the finished interior of nishi’s finished artspace
image by tom powel (main image by go sugimoto / all images courtesy of the public art fund, NY)
nishi’s public artwork consists of a true-to-scale living room which has been built around the celebrated statue. russo’s christopher columbus now seems to be built atop a coffee table placed in the center of the space with three modern seating pieces facing the reinvigorated monument.
gaetano russo’s columbus sculpture
image by tom powel
the stone monument, completed in 1892, has been closed into a living room-like structure
image by tom powel
the wallpaper coating the interior of the temporary space depicts famous american figures
image by tom powel
a visualization of the exterior of the ‘discovering columbus’ space
image by tom powel
the stone-formed columbus peaks through his new living room window to the street-scape below
image by tom powel
an additional view of the temporary platform encompassing the explorer’s monument
image by tom powel
image by tatzu nishi
image by tom powel
panoramic view
image by tom powel
image by tatzu nishi
russo’s sculpture before being built into his impermanent home
image by jesse hamerman, courtesy public art fund, NY
a detailed perspective of the weathered statue
image by nicholas baume, courtesy public art fund, NY
top left to bottom left (clockwise): tatzu nishi: discovering columbus, artist’s concept interior, courtesy of the artist and public art fund, NY; tatzu nishi: discovering columbus, artist’s concept exterior, courtesy of the artist and public art fund, NY; installation of tatzu nishi: discovering columbus (august 2012), photo: jason wyche, courtesy public art fund, NY; portraits & columbus circle: photo: liz ligon, courtesy public art fund, NY
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That is too cool!!! Does anyone know if you have to buy tickets to get in?
Nishi is a plagiarist! How can we accept this as someone else\’s work other than Gaetano Russo\’s. A noble public monument dedicated to teaching& reminding viewers of man\’s potential for greatness has been raped and paraded as a circus freak in the name of individualism and in the diseased guise of art. New York should be ashamed!
raped is a strong word. i think it is very original!
Seeing as how much raping Columbus did during his ‘greatness’, might be considered apropos. Humanity should be ashamed for its continuance of honoring this bastard.
OMG! this is so impratical! there is no where to put a garden on the south side! so many noxious fumes from autombiles! guests must climb six flights of stairs! I must be missing something!
Fab to get close and see his insolent stance. He’s steering right over Central Park — yes folks the boat will run over the Maine monument which supplied the mistaken pretext, via a warship explosion, to start the Spanish-American war. So much history forgotten, packed in a strangely jumbled set of monuments that only really receive close inspection when an artist like Nishi brings us in close to see the pockmarks in the marble.