Why Sesame Street Fans Should Head To The Met in New York
Visitors can see Sesame Street’s beloved character, Big Bird, swinging from the moon on the rooftop garden at The Met.
Both young and old fans of the children’s TV show Sesame Street have a treat in store. A new installation has been placed on the rooftop garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The sculpture features a blue version of the show’s much-loved character Big Bird, which is sure to bring feelings of nostalgia to both kids and their parents.
New Rooftop Installation At The Met
The latest installation at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City features the work of Philadelphia-based conceptual artist and designer, Alex Da Corte. His creation stands 26-foot-tall and is a kinetic sculpture named “As Long as the Sun Lasts.”
The kinetic sculpture features a blue version of Big Bird, swinging from the crescent moon with a ladder in hand, which suggests the possibility of passage back to Earth or to other galaxies. The sculpture is covered in around 7,000 individually placed aluminum feathers and rotates with the passing air currents, while Big Bird gazes out over the New York skyline.
If anyone is wondering why Big Bird is blue in the sculpture, rather than his normal yellow, the choice of color reflects Da Corte’s personal memories of the show. He grew up partly in Venezuela and watched the Brazilian version of Sesame Street as a child. In the show, Big Bird’s counterpart, Garibaldo, was blue.
Big Bird’s color also alludes to a 1985 film, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird. In that movie, Big Bird is captured while out on a road trip by two carnival operators. To hide his true identity, the workers painted him blue. As for the title, the name comes from a collection of whimsical short stories by Italian author Italo Calvino, relating to the potential of new explorations.
Outdoor Installations At The Met
The rooftop installation is the ninth in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor space in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Max Hollein, the Marina Kellen French Director of The Met spoke about the installation. He said, “Alex Da Corte’s bold work for the Cantor Roof Garden oscillates between joy and melancholy, and brings a playful message of optimism and reflection.”
“The installation, which the artist-initiated just as the pandemic was taking hold, invites us to look through a familiar, popular, modern lens at our own condition in a transformed emotional landscape. As the sculpture gently rotates in the wind, it calls us in an assuring way to pause and reflect: We are reminded that stability is an illusion, but ultimately what we see is a statement of belief in the potential of transformation.”
The new Alex Da Corte Roof Garden Commission, “As Long as the Sun Lasts” opened on April 16 and will run until October 31 at The Met. Read more information about the sculpture on the official website.
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