More Naked Men

There are 31 of these moody, nude dudes scattered about near Madison Square Park in Manhattan. Well, not all of them; some are loitering a little further a field including a parapet on the 26th floor of the Empire State Building (on the northeast side) and even higher up on the Metropolitan Life and Flatiron buildings. Only four are at ground level so you can make eye contact if you dare and even fondle there cast-iron behinds if you are so inclined, and they can’t fight back even though they are 6’ 2” and weigh 1,400 pounds each. The other 27 figures have been placed on rooftops and parapets of mostly historic buildings and it’s a mad game of ‘I Spy’ to see them all. These 27 are made of fiberglass and weigh about 70 pounds each so if they fall on you you might survive even though it would hurt mightily.

These sculptures, called “Event Horizon,” are the work of Antony Gormley and are castings made from his own body. They were first scattered about London in 2007 on bridges, buildings and streets along the South Bank of the Thames River. The Manhattan “Event” is sponsored by the Madison Square Park Conservancy who raised the $400,000 in production costs to bring it here. It doesn’t cost thee or me anything to gawk but, if you have the time, it’s also very interesting to see how the majority of pedestrians don’t give them much more than a cursory look, if that. But they are fun, in a way, even though seeing four or five of them looking down at you from various heights of strategically chosen buildings give them a gargoyle effect and are, thus, sort-of threatening in a way; even ghoulish, especially on a misty, murky Monday. But fear not, they are essentially a harmless work of installation art with the humor built in through the sheer audacity of their multitude. Unless, that is, one of them slips his bindings and conks you on the noggin.