Design

Is There Room on the High Line For Monumental Art?

Starting in 2018, the elevated park’s piazza-like Plinth will host a series of large—and possibly politically charged—public art pieces.
"Untitled" by Jeremy Deller, one of several proposed art pieces for the High Line's Plinth. High Line Art

Late last week 12 sculptures appeared on Manhattan’s High Line, some surreal, others funny, and a few that could get the anxiety-juice flowing in your veins. There’s a voluptuous single breast, a huge chameleon zapping out its tongue, an elephant hanging upside-down from a crane, and a Predator drone casting ominous shadows on the ground.

These are actually small-scale mock-ups of what may stand in full form in the High Line’s newest addition, the Spur, when it opens in 2018. Specifically, these works will occupy a space at West 30th Street and 10th Avenue called the Plinth, which will be devoted to public art exhibits that change over 18-month periods.