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Waiting in line to view Tatzu Nishi’s installation on a rainy Fall day, the surrounding fountains provide a constant white noise of crashing water. Actually rather isolating, the sonic disruption makes it hard to hear the others milling about expectantly in the entrance line. The first thing one notices is the intricacy of the elaborate scaffolding holding the artwork some seventy feet above the ground. Ascending the entrance staircase gives the viewer an expanding look not only of the city surrounding the circle, but a close view of the pillar serving as a base for Columbus. A guard at the top of the stairs stalls your entrance with a brief intro consisting of things viewers are forbidden to touch, and then you’re in. |
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Photo credit: Tom Powell Imaging, Courtesy Public Art Fund, NY
Tatzu Nishi “Discovering Columbus”
By Matthew Hassell
Waiting in line to view Tatzu Nishi’s installation on a rainy Fall day, the surrounding fountains provide a constant white noise of crashing water. Actually rather isolating, the sonic disruption makes it hard to hear the others milling about expectantly in the entrance line. The first thing one notices is the intricacy of the elaborate scaffolding holding the artwork some seventy feet above the ground. Ascending the entrance staircase gives the viewer an expanding look not only of the city surrounding the circle, but a close view of the pillar serving as a base for Columbus. A guard at the top of the stairs stalls your entrance with a brief intro consisting of things viewers are forbidden to touch, and then you’re in.
The first room you find on crossing the threshold is a small foyer or mudroom. Passing through this, the initial peek of the main living room is the surprising pink and yellow pattern of the custom wallpaper. Its composed of a comical arrangement of classic American and New York icons such as a hotdog, Mickey Mouse, Elvis, the Empire State Building, and of course Marilyn, among other things.
From there Columbus is impossible to miss. Standing with his back to the viewer, he is thirteen feet tall, head almost touching the lofty ceiling. He leans back on the rudder of his imaginary ship, gazing out the large windows he faces.
The views of the city from here are quite original, experienced before this only by eyes who also had wings or were equipped with exceptional climbing skills. What this Spanish explorer actually sees from here is hard to say, though cleverly, Nishi has positioned two historical images showing the construction of this very monument between two of the large windows Columbus faces. The humor is not lost on the artist, who must have been chuckling to think of Columbus reminiscing on the time he was built.
Photo credit: Tom Powell Imaging, Courtesy Public Art Fund, NY
The décor of the apartment seems as neatly considered as Nishi’s attention to comedic detail. Posed as the most striking coffee table ornament you have ever seen, Columbus is surrounded by a lushly designed lounge area replete with an inviting purple couch and dark wood end tables, which match the clean lines of the bookshelf. Hardwood floors run wall to wall, interrupted in the center by a neutral grey carpet. Columbus’ main competition in the room comes from a slickly designed ES8000 Samsung Smart TV with innovative Smart Interaction. At the time it was silently displaying CNN in stunning HD.
Nishi claims that his work is more about re-directing the public’s eye in relation to the statue and taking a fresh view of the city rather than a commentary of Columbus himself, but the implications simply cannot be ignored. The first piece the artist has chosen for exhibit in the United States just happens to be a statue of the man who supposedly came here first.
The gem of the work itself actually exists in the mind of the viewer. Years from now, long after the scaffolding has come down, Columbus will once again preside up high on a pillar, unattainably raised over our heads. Those of us who have taken the time to visit Nishi’s work during its installation will always have that experience to think of—a time when Columbus was more than the historical legend that he has become. That time he was on our level, just another guy hanging out in Nishi’s living room.
