Famous Ankles

At Vanderbilt Avenue and 46th Street (right across the street from Grand Central, on the west side) is a nice little place with the initials YC.

It’s the Yale Club. There are a whole bunch of these little university-based clubs in NYC. The only one I’ve been to was the Princeton Club, but that was by invitation from a vendor at my company (the vendor’s owner was, I think, a member).

But the site is more than the current location of the Yale Club. I recently spotted the plaque below just at the edge of the building.

It reads “At the British artillery Park near this site, Nathan Hale, Captain in the U.S. Army, Yale Graduate of 1773, apprehended within enemy lines while seeking information, was executed on the morning of September 22, 1776. His last words were ‘I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country’ Erected by Mary Washington Colonial Capter, D.A.R. and the Yale Club of New York”

I hadn’t realized it had taken place so close to where I live. Nor had I ever realized how early in the Revolution that his hanging had occured, only about 3 months into it.

-H

Well, NYC is always changing and Lever House has updated its pretty bad artwork (at least in my estimation) with equal artwork (also in my estimation).

But they moved it indoors! I guess that’s what they consider progress.

I’m not any sort of art critic, but I know what I find interesting versus non-interesting. The new artist’s work this time isn’t bad in any aesthetic sense. It’s actually interesting in one or two ways. But not sufficiently so.

First, the good part. They removed the gutted “Virgin Mother” and put in some plants.

I fully approve. Nice planting. Kudos to the grounds staff.

The new artwork is inside the Lever House lobby. Artist Richard Dupont has a display going on until May 3 where he made a series of images of himself, in a sort of sculpture. Actually, into nine identical life-sized (I suppose) sculptures of himself. But they aren’t identical and they aren’t life-sized. Each is supposed to be different and only looks life-sized from one angle. What that means is that they are squashed thin or flat or not-squashed depending on the angle. Oh, and the figures are all naked.

When I looked at it, the place wasn’t open to the public so I couldn’t take a closer look. All I could really see was that they were actually pretty well done, but I don’t understand the point of the “squashing”. There’s some text in the window that says “Dupont has created nine self-portraits that are laterally and horizontally manipulated so that they are radically distorted and can be only be seen as an accurate, complete body from one vantage point.” If the point of the sculpture is that we can’t use one viewpoint to truly know the man…that ain’t news. In fact, it is more accurate to portray that sort of thing by showing that no angle and no single or multiple perspective really gives you a true view of the man, naked or not. Not even of ourselves. The real truth is that we are unknowable.

But what do I know? I guess I’m just an ankler who is jealous that other people get to do such interpretations at Lever House.

I do have to admit that I am looking forward to the future of Lever House artwork. We’ve had a nude, giant, gutted, pregnant woman. And we’ve had squashed, mostly-life-sized, naked men. I’m betting on hundreds of miniature, shaved dogs and cats in some form for the next exhibit. Ever seen a shaved collie? Or maybe they get clothes like Barbie. (She’s got plenty of outfits to spare.) Malibu Poodle!

Actually, I might like that, so it won’t happen. I’ll keep an eye out, though.

-H

Located on Park Avenue, between 38th and 39th Streets, Scandinavia House is a local institution that serves as a means for Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark/Iceland to present themselves to NYC.  It’s a pretty cool little building.

The little display window at the front shows what the current and upcoming displays or events are.  This one was a bit unusual; it shows the face of a man severely affected by frostbite as part of a photo exhibit.  Yeah, those guys are a bundle of laughs.

The exhibits and all are wide-ranging.  They have a cafe and the ability to show films.  There are kids activities and lectures for adults.

In honesty, I keep planning to go there but just haven’t made the leap.

-H

Yeah, it is Grand Central Terminal, not Grand Central Station (although I either call it just “Grand Central” or “Grand Central Station” – but that’s just my favorite little error to make in its name).

Vanderbilt Hall is something I’ve posted about before (here and here), but it’s never been the point of the post (one was on the Christmas shops that are in there and the other mentioned it as part of a larger post).  But, I have to admit that I really, really like the hall simply because it spends most of its time completely empty and cavernous.  They put up rails to prevent people from wandering in there and standing around, but you can easily duck around them if you really want.

On the other hand, they are also often in the process of putting up a display in there and then letting people go through it, like the Christmas shops.  My favorite use of it has always been Tartan Week which has Scottish shops on one side and performances on the other…along with tourist stuff promoting Scotland.

But that really doesn’t explain a heck of a lot.  When you first walk into the main entrance of Grand Central off of 42nd Street, you walk down a short vestibule area.  You then enter through some more doors.  On both sides of you (the left and the right) is Vanderbilt Hall.

You can see they look pretty much the same.

There are a couple of plaques, but the one that catches the eye is this one.

It reads:  “In memory and honor of Jacquiline Kennedy Onassis, 1929-1994, In an age when few people sought to preserve the architectural wonders that are a daily reminder of our rich and glorious past, a brave woman rose in protest to save this terminal from demolition.  Because of her tireless and valiant efforts, it stands today as a monument to those who came before us and built the greatest city known to mankind.  Preserving this great landmark is one of her many enduring legacies.  The people of New York are forever grateful.  October 1, 1998.”

Actually, Jackie died on 5/19/1994.  She didn’t get to see this plaque, but we get to see her legacy.

However, something is going on.  I haven’t been there for a few days, but the past few weeks they’ve been doing a lot of renovations or setup.  I’ll go back again soon to take another look.

-H