The image is of the inflatable “union rat” (nicknamed “Scabby”) that is commonly seen in NYC and other cities to deter or to protest against “scab workers” during worker strikes, but cast in bronze. It looks to me to be at the same scale of the rubber original, maybe a bit larger. Its title of “The New Colossus” refers to the title of the poem by Emma Lazarus at the base of the Statue of Liberty (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”).
As commentary, it’s not subtle (especially when it was erected the week before Labor Day). But how is it fundamentally different from taking a pic of “Scabby”, subtitling it “The New Colossus” via mememaker.net and posting it to Facebook? That would be considered silly and sophomoric stuff, but if one spends the moolah and effort to cast it in bronze, then it becomes worthy of public art?
Is “the medium the message” after all?
Further, what if this image of “Scabby” had been augmented with a raised torch in his right paw. Wouldn’t that be over the top? If so, where’s the boundary between erecting this thing on Park Avenue and saying GETOUTTAHEAH?
How about a “Scabby” version of a Maneki-Neko, the Japanese “waving cat” symbolizing prosperity and good fortune?
No comment to the main thrust of your post, other than to say that I like Giant Inflatable Rats; I think they’re unintentionally adorable. But the statue has been there for quite a bit longer than “the week before Labor Day”–I just found a picture I took of it before my vacation, and that started July 14.
Wow, I walk past that corner just about every day and I sort of assumed I’d have noticed it before today if it’d been there much longer. I guess not. :o
As for how adorable you find them - watch it, buddy; Scabby’s married!
I like Jeff Koons, but my response to this piece is kind of “meh”.
Koons’ pieces usually celebrate the pure form of the objects they represent. Being confronted with a giant balloon animal encourages you look at it as a composition of masses and curves. His pieces are humorous and transformative.
However “Colossus” is just kind of awkwardly ugly. I can’t groove on the form at all, which means that my entire read comes of the abstract symbolism of the piece. And, personally, the transformation of a grass-roots symbol of the labor movement into a hunk of upscale corporate art feels crass. It doesn’t feel like an homage to the source material, but rather a bit of snark at the expense of striking workers.
Maybe I’d like it better in person, but from what I see in the photo, I don’t care for it.
