With a drone on the High Line, an artist reemerges from controversy
Sam Durants drone in production. Durant has revealed his first large-scale sculpture in the public sphere since the Scaffold controversy in Minneapolis. Alex Waxenbaum, via TinDragon Media via The New York Times.
by Hilarie M. Sheets
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- In May, a sleek white fiberglass sculpture in the shape of a Predator drone will be installed atop a 25-foot-tall pole and rotate in the wind on the High Line at 30th Street in New York. With a wingspan of 48 feet almost the actual size of the remote-controlled military aircraft but stripped of its cameras, weapons and landing gear the kinetic artwork could appear as a modernist bird hovering in the sky, reminiscent of the biomorphic sculptures of Constantin Brancusi or Barbara Hepworth.
Sam Durant,
Untitled (drone), rendering. Photo courtesy of High Line Art.
“We can pretty much say that there’s never been a just war,” Durant said in a video produced by High Line Art. “Maybe people are not aware of the drones and just how ubiquitous they are in other parts of the world.” The sculpture, which rotates like a weathervane, will be on view for 18 months,
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Untitled (drone) is meant to animate the question about the use of drones, surveillance, and targeted killings in places far and near, and whether as a society we agree with and want to continue these practices,” Durant said in a statement.
Sam Durant to create drone sculpture for the High Line s next plinth commission theartnewspaper.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theartnewspaper.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.