last evening I climbed a scaffold to the top of the monumental statue of christopher columbus at columbus circle in manhattan. the view was a bit heady.the artist tatzu nishi came up with the brilliant idea of building a room around the columbus figure so visitors could hang out with him in a casual atmosphere, much like a livingroom. he designed custom wallpaper reflecting american culture especially for the room.
everyone seemed to feel at home taking many photos, filming everyone and everything, flipping through magazines at a side table, posing in front of columbus in the same position as if they themselves were impersonating him. it was wild. when I started to tell my husband I didn't know which was more interesting, the statue or...he completed my sentence saying...the people looking at the statue. it quickly became obvious tatzu nishi knew what he was doing.
below is a photograph of some of what mr. columbus looks at every day, day in and day out.
more on columbus tomorrow.