Thursday, October 23, 2008

I'm Meltingggggg

Reading this subject line may have already brought you to the Wizard of Oz, but I'm not about discuss a witch but am going to refer to something else melting in our world that is quite wicked these days: the economy.

You may or may not be aware, but October 29th, next Wednesday, is the anniversary of Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression in 1929. On this day next week, artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese (also known as Ligorano/Reese) are going to meltdown the "Economy", literally.

This new time based event, title Main Street Meltdown, Ligorano/Reese will install the word “Economy,” carved in ice, in Foley Square, using the New York Supreme Court as a back drop.
And this is not your standard country club wedding swan ice sculpture, measuring at 15 feet long, 5 feet tall, and weighing almost 1,500 pounds. As a temporary monument, Ligorano/Reese estimated the piece will take anywhere between 10 & 24 hours to melt.
This will be Ligorano/Reese's fourth series of ice sculptures dealing with political issues. Earlier sculptures included "Democracy" during the Democratic and Republican Conventions in Denver and St. Paul. Next week's sculpture will be close to the heart of Wall Street, as to symbolize the current financial crisis. Ligorano/Reese claims this sculpture “metaphorically captures the results of unregulated markets on the U.S. economy.”

This is quite an interesting way of mixing business with art and I think Ligorano/Reese are creating an impactful visual of the current state of our economy. However, as a overtly superstitious person, wouldn't you not want to jinx it by displaying a meltdown on the meltdown anniversary?

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