I like Anish Kapoor’s work; most of it anyway. But when I saw the design and the cost of the ArcelorMittal Orbital (left) that will go up in London for the Olympics, at a cost of £19.1, which is about $29 million, I paused. That’s a lot of money even if London Mayor Boris Johnson thankfully got billionaire Lakshmi Mittal to pony up £16 million of it.
The structure is taller than the Statue of Liberty, and sets out to be this century’s Eiffel Tower.
The news made me think of a different structure, though. That would be the $25 million, true-to-life-sized replica of a locomotive suspended from a crane that Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, would like to purchase from Jeff Koons. I’ve said it’s an extravagance LACMA can ill afford (here).
Back to London, though: I read with interest Antonia Senor’s commentary in the Times:
Can we just bypass the “is it art?” debate? It’s a giant, misshapen rollercoaster- type thingy, with a sort of sub-Eiffel Towery feel. It may or may not symbolise the twisted dreams of our country’s financial capital or Man’s doomed striving for the sky on his meandering path towards the grave. Or something. But let’s just call it art and be done.
The Anish Kapoor-designed, ArcelorMittal Orbital will soar above the London Olympic Park, dividing opinions, enraging taxi drivers and garnering nicknames. Personally, I love 84 per cent of it — the bit that was paid for by ArcelorMittal, the company owned by the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, which is spending up to £16 million on it. I am substantially less enamoured of the £3.1 million bit that we are paying for. Could it just be a few feet shorter with the company picking up all the bill?
She goes on to make a larger point about how government money is being spent on the arts:
The [culture ministry] announced yesterday a £50,000 grant for a charity called Culture24 to develop smartphone apps that allow people to find the nearest art. In the event that you must know, without delay, the whereabouts of the nearest Picasso, this is for you; £50,000 may be a tiny sum, but if there’s a market for this app, it will be made. If not, why is the Government supplying this middle-class toy?
And she ends up arguing for the American system. Fancy that. I don’t agree with everything she says, but she has a point.
As for Kapoor, I think I prefer what he did for Chicago, below.
Photo Credits: Courtesy ARUP (top)