Jeff Koons topiary sculpture will keep on rockin’ through September 12 at Rockefeller Center (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Rockefeller Plaza
49th to 50th Sts. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through September 12, free
www.publicartfund.org
www.rockefellercenter.com
Back in the summer of 2000, Jeff Koons’s massive “Puppy” looked out over the crowds at Rockefeller Center. Koons is back at the plaza this season with “Split-Rocker,” a Public Art Fund project that serves as a tasty amuse-bouche to his career-redefining retrospective at the Whitney. Standing thirty-seven-feet high and covered with fifty thousand flowering plants, “Split-Rocker” is a giant children’s rocking chair, a pony head on one side (based on his son’s toy) and a dinosaur (“Dino”) on the other. The 150-ton topiary sculpture, previous versions of which have been displayed in Avignon, Versailles, Riehen/Basel, and Potomac, Maryland, since 2000, is much brighter and more colorful on the pony half, but the work will change during its stay as some flowers die off and others come to life; among the varieties are begonias, geraniums, petunias, and fuchsias. The title is key, as the “split” is more than evident; Koons fashioned the piece so there is a clear differentiation between the two halves, which are slightly misaligned, allowing viewers to glimpse the mirrorlike metal separator. In addition, there is an inviting opening in the back — seemingly offering shelter, although you are not allowed inside — that reveals how the structure was built, with beams and an irrigation system. “I love the dialogue with nature in creating a piece that needs so much control — How many plants should be planted? How will these plants survive? — while at the same time giving up the control,” Koons said in a statement. “It’s in nature’s hands, even though you try to plan everything to make the plants survive. This sense of giving up control is very beautiful. The balance between control and giving up control reminds us of the polarity of existence.” The utterly delightful piece will remain on view through September 12, while the Whitney show, which includes a maquette of “Split-Rocker,” continues until October 19. Koons, who lives and works in New York City and York, Pennsylvania, where he was born and raised, will discuss the project in a Public Art Fund Talk at the New School on September 10; he will also deliver the prestigious 2014 Walter Annenberg Lecture at the Whitney on September 30.