Soho to Lower Midtown:
Exploring Narratives:
Public Narrative #1 in Madison Square Park:
In a packed Madison square Park around 1:30 on a sunny
afternoon, its almost impossible to find a seat. Due to the proximity of
lunchtime, many people have stopped to eat, taking their breaks and small
reprieve from a (probably) otherwise hectic day. The second a seat opens on a
bench in the park, a persons will lock eyes with it and make a beeline towards
it. The target has been engaged and there is no stopping them until they’ve
acquired the precious seat. Sure enough, within fifteen second of the seat
opening next to me, it was taken again, replaced by a stressed looking man.
Though some people are here for leisurely purposes, it seems like for the most
part, people are using this park for a purpose. The purposes range from having
lunch, using the dog park, doing some work while outside, or simply using it to
cut through the city. Very few people appear to just be “hanging out.” This
creates an area of constant motion, engagement, activity and energy. The passing through attitude is reflected
heavily in the way people are dressed in the park as well. Many people are
dressed in professional attire and therefore are not ready to spend hours in the park.
Public Narrative #2 in Madison Square Park:
Madison Square Park has a large amount of grass, but it is
closed off to the public. Many people are stopped along the grass edge, facing
it, seemingly & silently begging to engage with it. Opening the grasses
would certainly solve some of the seating issues, but also cause other problems
to arise. The lack of grassy areas, I think, creates a space that discourages
peoples to come and stay. Instead, it encourages people to come and enjoy the
park, but only for a short period of time. You can see that on a particularly
nice day like this, people are particularly wishing for this grass, wanting to
sit down and absorb that sun while they have a few spare moments. The issue of
how the public interacts with this grass may come with killing the grass that
there is, trash, or social interactions the local authorities don’t want to
deal with. Overalls, in comparison with many parks in the city, Madison Square
was very clean and well kept. This is a little bit surprising given how many
people are eating in the park on a day-to-day basis. You would expect littering
or at the very least, trash pile up to occur. However, walking around, the park
was fairly pristine.
Public Art Narrative #3 in Madison Square Park:
Looming at the main entrance of the park is the statue of
William H. Seward, the man best known today for his purchase of Alaska from Russia.
During his own lifetime, this purchase would be known as “Steward’s Folly.”
This piece has a significant history for public narrative because it was the
first ever piece of public art to go on display in New York City. This statue
was merely a beginning for a long engagement between the public and art in the
city. Now, it’s a statue that gets passed by thousands of people every day, but
rarely noticed. I’d suspect that few people, even the ones who visit the park
every day, know whom the statue is of, let alone the artist or the reason or
significance of its placement. The placement of the statue also seems
significant in relation to not only the park, but also the city. In the park,
it is situated right at the main entrance, and impossible not to at least
notice to some degree as you enter the park. This position commands a certain
level of respect or entitlement, as opposed to a more hidden piece. Also, in
relation to the city, once could argue that it is in a very central location.
Madison Square Park is located almost directly in the center of Manhattan in
term of East and West. When considering the statue was placed in 1876, it
essentially was placed in the center of Manhattan at that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment