[artspook]

Would you happier if there was nothing there instead? . .
- antinimby
Maybe not . . there are cool things about it . .
it has texture, it is very interactive, a good place to exercise . .
but for all its focal positioning, expense, energy, material & hype . .
I also see a big, hyper-complex, tedious picnic-basket . .
a severely symmetrical geometric form of common proportion . .
an Escher-esque nightmare . . generating "stress-producing" vibes . .
rancorous enough to agitate our urban experience . .
It's a perfect location for shooting high-anxiety movie scenes . .
like Hitchcock's Vertigo . .

It's a design that's anything, but soothing . .
like a refreshing grand fountain . . or an unusual water feature . .
It's not a graceful architectural monument, . .
or preeminent landscape-engineering feature.
We might've had an supremely vertical avant-garde abstraction . .
with phenomenal 22nd-century night-lighting aspects . .
(no Koons steel-balloon dog) . . something aesthetically wonerful . .
in contrast to the mostly undistinguished HY glass building shapes . .

The intrusive bulky vessel, next to the boxy culture-shed . .
both in such close proximity . . awkwardly similar in volume and proportion
. . seems to hijack what could've been a beautiful open sweep . .
of a landscaped avenue handsomely joining the plaza . .

there's a critic for everything - NYguy
Most opinions on the forum are not witlessly unfounded . .
Everything that's built isn't great . . they ripped down Penn Station to build MSG . .
think the Colosseum complex at Columbus Circle . .
What about that modern mistake blocking the entrance
to McKim, Mead & White's Brooklyn Museum entrance . .

I know. We are getting this exact The Vessel.
So, should we just shut up already, & like it ? . .
everyone roll over & let developers promise glorious focal points . .
surpassing even the Eiffel Tower, . . then allow them to deliver
monstrous picnic baskets instead . . Thank you, your omnipotence ! . .
It is our city as much as theirs . . As a citizen of NYC, I reserve the right
to bitch . . then change my mind . . perhaps, eventually learn to like it . .