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notes
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The most desirable and fashionable address in New
York City today, One Union Square South is a dramatic 27-story luxury
rental that rises above the treetops of Union Square Park. Commanding
breathtaking views of Greenwich Village, the midtown skyline, and Union
Square's famed and festive Greenmarket, the building offers the perfect
combination of uptown luxury and downtown style.
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| FACT
SHEET: |
Metronome: A
MONUMENTAL PUBLIC ARTWORK BY KRISTIN JONES / ANDREW GINZEL
COMMISSIONED FOR ONE UNION SQUARE SOUTH AS A GIFT TO NEW YORK CITY
BY THE RELATED COMPANIES
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Overview: |
Metronome, the new public
artwall created by the artist team Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel,
will begin to be installed the week of February 7, 1999 on the
façade of One Union Square South - the 500,000 square-foot retail,
entertainment and residential complex. Metronomewas
commissioned by The Related Companies, L.P., the Manhattan-based
owner/developer of One Union Square South, under the direction of
its founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Stephen M. Ross,
as an unprecedented gift to the city. Metronomewas selected
after the Public Art Fund, acting as a consultant to the developer,
solicited nominations of more than 200 artists from curators,
critics and art professionals throughout the United States.
Measuring 100 by 60 feet at the central panel and costing almost $3
million, Metronomemarks one of the largest private
commissions of public art in New York's history.
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Project Background: |
In
January 1996, a national competition by invitation was organized by
the Public Art Fund on behalf of The Related Companies to select a
design for the complex's proposed public artwall. More than 100
submissions of the 200 nominations were selected to be reviewed by
an Advisory Panel composed of art experts, civic leaders and local
representatives, as well as representatives of The Municipal Art
Society and the design team of Davis Brody Bond, LLP, the architects
of One Union Square South. In December 1996, artists Kristin Jones
and Andrew Ginzel were awarded the project.
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Location: |
Visible
for twenty-eight blocks Metronomewill punctuate the southern
terminus of Park Avenue South - just as Grand Central Station, with
its south-facing clock, punctuates the street's northern terminus.
Overlooking Union Square, Metronomewill be constructed on the
northern façade of the complex at One Union Square South, fronting
14th Street.
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Description: |
Metronomeis an innovative
work consisting of three primary components. The entire work
symbolizes the intangibility of time which is reflected in the
relationship between various elements in the piece. The central
component, measuring 100 feet high and 60 feet wide, is formed of an
undulating brick wall emanating from the heart of the work - a dark
circular void surrounded by gold leaf overlay that dissipates across
the panel into gold fragments - like the rippling of water caused by
a single stone, diminishing in frequency across the vertical plane.
Below, a massive rock juts out through the undulating brick wall,
grounding the work. To the left of the central component, on the
glass façade, is a digital timepiece which counts the twenty-four
hours of the day while simultaneously subtracting the time remaining
in the day. To the right, is the lunar timepiece, composed of a
sphere set into a socket, which is synchronized to revolve with the
phases of the moon.
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Artists: |
Kristin
Jones and Andrew Ginzel have collaborated since 1985. Recent
site-specific commissions include: a commission from the Arts for
Transit program of New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority
entitled Oculus at the World Trade Center Station to be completed in
spring 1999; Apostasy, a commission at the 1996 Olympic Arts
Festival in Atlanta; Interim, a project for the Next Wave Festival
of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1995); Sounding, a project for the
Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia (1994); a commission
for the Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program for
Stuyvesant High School in Battery Park City entitled Mnemonics
(1992); and Principia, a commission from the One Percent for Art
Project Program at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland (1990).
In 1994, they received the Rome Prize from the American Academy in
Rome, Italy, a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment
for the Arts, a Pollock-Krasner fellowship, and the Cité
International des Arts Residency in Paris, France.
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Fabrication: |
Metronomeis an
unprecedented work in terms of its scale and complexity. Unlike many
other works of art which are constructed in one location,
Metronomelinks artisans, architectural and engineering
professionals from across the country. The wall itself represents
their attention to quality and detail and symbolizes the triumph of
the magnificent over the mundane.
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Installation: |
Metronomewill begin to be
installed the week of February 7, 1999 and should take approximately
three months.
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| Cost: |
Metronomemarks one of the
largest private commissions of public art in New York ever. The
total cost of the project is nearly $3 million.
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| The
Related Companies: |
The
Related Companies, headed by Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen M.
Ross, owns and manages residential, retail and commercial properties
worth more than $7 billion in 40 states. The Related Companies was
recently awarded the Coliseum site on Columbus Circle by the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In addition to One Union
Square South, current developments include luxury rental towers on
the Upper East and Upper West sides and Battery Park City North. The
Related Companies has also commenced construction on The Chatham, a
new super-luxury condominium development located on East 65th Street
and Third Avenue and will begin the rehabilitation of the historic
Guardian Life Building at 50 Union Square located on East 17th
Street. The commission of Metronomewas spearheaded by Mr.
Ross and his colleague David J. Wine, President of Related
Residential Development.
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Photography: |
Computer-generated renderings of Metronomeare currently
available. After February, process installation images and final
color images will be available upon request.
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