Wed 17 May 2006
61C Inbound, Forbes & Morewood, Oakland.
Three 50-year-old Ladies are having a conversation about CMU’s new 100-ft-tall public sculpture “Walking to the Sky” by abrasive CMU alumnus Jonathan Borofsky:*
Lady #1: Oh, goodness, they’ve finished it. I swear, if that thing’s staying there I’m going to change my commute to take a 5th Avenue bus.
Lady #2: What in God’s name were they thinking with that, anyway?
Lady #3: Must be a student art piece.
— Overheard by Alisa
For more Borofsky unpleasantness, check out his proposed World Trade Center Memorial/USA Today Infographic™. Infographic Joke © 2006 Lexi Moore
May 17th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
Does anyone that hasn’t drank the CFA kool-aid think that this is anything but ugly as sin?
May 18th, 2006 at 11:30 am
No one likes it, but it’s here for the time being. But I do think the students who are threatening to vandalize it or to harrass Borofsky at commencement will end up looking like douches if they in fact follow through.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Vandalizing it only makes it worse, and harassing him is overkill since he’s already a terrible artist.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
All of you who hate Jonathan Borofsky’s sculpture are being incredibly ignorant. If you consider its more profound and abstract meaning, you might understand why it has a place on our campus. Yes it does provoke feelings of malcontent from those of us who don’t have the privilege of profound and creative thought processes, but perhaps if you all try and take your eyes off its controversy and focus on its purpose, perhaps then it won’t look so garish. I myself do not have artistic training, but I still find it an incredibly meaningful piece and absolutely perfect on the campus.
May 18th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
so, would you care to enlighten those of us who are so very ignorant of its profound and abstract meaning?
May 18th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
It’s ugly as sin. And here “for the time being” is an understatement. I’d say it’s quite permanent.
May 19th, 2006 at 12:02 am
To the person who thinks that the piece of shit^H^H^H^H art is meaningful:
A piece of art is only meaningful if people are able to look at it and find meaning without being distracted by how hideous it is and how much they hate it. Yes, I can see what potential symbolism lies within it, but I also know that when I get a zit it means that there’s been an accumulation of oil inside of my pores. That doesn’t mean I want to walk around all day with a huge pimple on the tip of my nose.
May 19th, 2006 at 2:22 am
i actually think its rather nice looking. aesthetically well-proportioned, helps frame the campus quite nicely when looking at it from morewood. its fresh for the campus….helps liven the place up a bit (cuz the yellow brick does nothing to mask the gloomy pittsburgh skies). if anything, its making people debate, which seems to be a sign that people at CMU arent so apathetic as they come across. there is a real sense of ownership and pride for the school, which is being expressed in the various responses to this work. i think that is fascinating.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Saw it for the first time today. I don’t want to vandalize it, just sculpt a replica of a smooshed three-story fall victim and leave it in an appropriate place on the grass.
May 19th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
Now, that’s a creative solution to the problem.
It should become part of a demeaning student tradition.
May 19th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
i dont think anyone would need to sculpt a smooshed victim at the bottom. all we need is a frat party across the street where someone will inevitable say “dude, fuckin, i DARE you to climb that thing! the whole way dude! seriously bro, sit on that chick way up at the top!!”
the question is, how many drunk CMU kids will have to fall off the sculpture before they remove that hideous contraption?
May 19th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
WttS is the fugliest thing I’ve seen in years. I really wonder what goes through the “minds” of CMU administrators, other than the thought of $$$, which is the only reason I can think of why that POS would be installed where it is.
Someone I know wants to draw a chalk outline of a person at the bottom. I told him/her to include the outline of a laptop next to it….
it is CMU after all.
June 6th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
To the ignoramous who thinks this is such a cool piece of art, and we’re all ignorant.
Art requires subtlety, and there is nothing subtle about this monstrosity that belongs in front of the headquarters at FisherPrice!
This is already the laughing stock of Pittsburgh. It does not belong at CMU!!
June 28th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
I think it’s sort of cool… I’ve seen modern art that’s a LOT more pointless. But I’m not sure it fits in well in the middle of the cut. Maybe if it was in a garden or something. It’s just sorta fun, I don’t care about any deep meaning.