New York City Legend
Bronze on a black stone base
Diameter 27cm, height incl. stone base 40 cm
NYC LEGEND The theme of this piece depicts the legend of the alligator in the NYC sewers. Having lived over a decade in Manhattan I wanted to pay tribute to...
NYC LEGEND
The theme of this piece depicts the legend of the alligator in the NYC sewers. Having lived over a decade in Manhattan I wanted to pay tribute to the city I love by portraying one of its most popular urban legends.
This artwork deals with two interesting aspects of our world; our need for gods, myths, and legends much like any other civilization prior to ours, and our habit of creating invasive species by moving animals from their natural habitats to human environments. As late as 2020 New York Times reported of actual Florida alligators on the loose in NYC.
BACKGROUND
Legends and myths have been the backbone of human civilization for as long as one can remember. During a visit to the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City I marvelled at how the ancient Mayans, Zapotecs, Aztecs, and many other civilizations depicted gods, rites, legends, and myths through the medium of visual art, sculpture, and architecture. This led me to look at the civilization I live in and reflect upon certain similarities in our time. I started searching for stories that grew from oral tale into other mediums such as painting, music, and more modern formats such as film. Whilst doing this research, I realized that the tales of alligators in the New York sewer systems fit all these requirements.
Tales of alligators in New York stem from actual facts – from time to time these reptiles are found in in the city. Alligators kept as pets or for other purposes are occasionally released by irresponsible owners. The legend that has formed because of this thoughtless behaviour has many versions and goes back almost one hundred years. One version tells of an albino race of alligators living in the New York sewers, mutated and lethal. Another version became a feature film; In the 1980’s, the horror movie “Alligator” was released in the US. It featured a giant 36-foot mutated man-eating monster that lived in the city sewers of Chicago. Although the city was not New York, the alligator made it to the movie screens and the legend grew bigger.
Besides paying tribute to the legend of the alligators beneath the streets of New York, the artwork also aims to reflect on global issues of our time by placing certain familiar discarded objects surrounding the alligator; Human pollution and the displacement of various species around the world are increasingly defining our civilization.
Regardless of our attitudes towards the natural world, nature remains the main source of inspiration for human imagination. Even in the industrialized world, where the entire fauna is seen as subordinate to the species of homo sapiens, nature continues to inspire, allowing legends to be born.
Alexander Klingspor, London 2022
The theme of this piece depicts the legend of the alligator in the NYC sewers. Having lived over a decade in Manhattan I wanted to pay tribute to the city I love by portraying one of its most popular urban legends.
This artwork deals with two interesting aspects of our world; our need for gods, myths, and legends much like any other civilization prior to ours, and our habit of creating invasive species by moving animals from their natural habitats to human environments. As late as 2020 New York Times reported of actual Florida alligators on the loose in NYC.
BACKGROUND
Legends and myths have been the backbone of human civilization for as long as one can remember. During a visit to the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City I marvelled at how the ancient Mayans, Zapotecs, Aztecs, and many other civilizations depicted gods, rites, legends, and myths through the medium of visual art, sculpture, and architecture. This led me to look at the civilization I live in and reflect upon certain similarities in our time. I started searching for stories that grew from oral tale into other mediums such as painting, music, and more modern formats such as film. Whilst doing this research, I realized that the tales of alligators in the New York sewer systems fit all these requirements.
Tales of alligators in New York stem from actual facts – from time to time these reptiles are found in in the city. Alligators kept as pets or for other purposes are occasionally released by irresponsible owners. The legend that has formed because of this thoughtless behaviour has many versions and goes back almost one hundred years. One version tells of an albino race of alligators living in the New York sewers, mutated and lethal. Another version became a feature film; In the 1980’s, the horror movie “Alligator” was released in the US. It featured a giant 36-foot mutated man-eating monster that lived in the city sewers of Chicago. Although the city was not New York, the alligator made it to the movie screens and the legend grew bigger.
Besides paying tribute to the legend of the alligators beneath the streets of New York, the artwork also aims to reflect on global issues of our time by placing certain familiar discarded objects surrounding the alligator; Human pollution and the displacement of various species around the world are increasingly defining our civilization.
Regardless of our attitudes towards the natural world, nature remains the main source of inspiration for human imagination. Even in the industrialized world, where the entire fauna is seen as subordinate to the species of homo sapiens, nature continues to inspire, allowing legends to be born.
Alexander Klingspor, London 2022
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