No, I'm talking about artists like Will Ryman who erected these huge roses, complete with insects, in the center medians along Park Avenue. They're up through the end of this month.
They kind of remind me of The Day of the Triffids, a low budget, British science fiction movie from my childhood. But these roses can't chase you, they're made of stainless steel. The petals look as if they're sharp enough to cut you, though, and those thorns--well, let's just say I'd hate to be a drunken pedestrian.
You'll notice they come complete with bugs, too. My favorites are the aphid in front of the Armory, and the bumble bee with the MetLife building further down the canyon.
A little farther east, at Grand Army Plaza, you'll find a more recent installation called Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads by Ai Wei Wei.
It's hard to get a good angle on the entire installation, especially if you don't want the police barricades that surround it in your shot.
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese dissident with a bushy beard who used to sketch tourist portraits across the street in the early 80s when he first moved to NYC. He lived in the East Village and had an open-door policy for Chinese artists new to the City. A good guy in other words. So good that the Chinese government has "disappeared" him.
His animal heads certainly aren't cuddly, and they conform less to the eastern signs of the Zodiac than to characters from Animal Farm.
From this angle, the demure maiden atop the Pulitzer Fountain looks like she's just about to step on a snake on her way to the rodeo.
Doesn't this rat look like a censorious politician in profile?
And check out the teeth on this wild boar--he must be the head of the secret police!
And finally, an angry dissident. Free Al Weiwei NOW!
