I found out about Eliasson’s installation on the East River, The New York Waterfalls, from NYT. I surely deemed the project interesting, but did not read up on it due to the lack of time. Several days ago, I rode in a cab with a friend, saw The Waterfalls, and started babbling away about public art, telling the engineer type about the Running Fence of Christo and Jeanne Claude. “Nah, but how does it work and how much electricity are they wasting on it?” – he asked the questions that naturally popped up in his head. Well, the website dedicated to the project does tell us how the waterfalls were installed, how they work, but keeps quiet about the energy consumption. Apparently, the answer is “A LOT” since the project is reported to be the second most expensive in the city’s history. Whether a part of the money does come from the city’s budget, or all of it is from the Public Art Fund and other organizations, let us rejoice for the minor spending boost, since the economic stimulus package does not seem to be doing its job. According to The Economist, apparently the “consumers are planning to spend only somewhere between 20% and 40% of the rebate. The rest will go towards paying down debt or into savings accounts” (“Stimulus and Shopping,” The Economist, May 29th, 2008).
Jokes aside, I recommend to see the four beasts driving on the FDR or riding the Q train. I will spare you of the blackberry pictures of the project, since it is best seen live or on the pictures by the pros.