The Public Hangs From Brick Building In Optical-Illusion Replica Of NYC Property
Image via Liberty Science Center
Thanks to Spider-Man, audiences have been able to fantasize about what it’s like to swing and jump between buildings in New York City—but they can’t actually live it out. Well, now you can safely perform your own stunts with an all-new installation at the Liberty Science Center.
Newly commissioned by the establishment, Leandro Erlich’s The Building invites members of the public to cling onto the windows and balconies of a brick structure just like the ones in NYC.
The Building is an extension of Erlich’s famous participatory Bâtiment series, modeled after architecture from places like Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Donetsk, and the Echigo-Tsumari region of Japan. This edition, however, sees the first time the artist has channeled features of an American city.
Each global homage borrows the design codes of its muse. This is why the full-scale, NYC-inspired façade depicts a brick storefront, with a deli, fire escapes, an air-conditioning unit, and steel balconies woven through.
The illusion begins at the floor, with a mirror positioned perpendicular to the artwork so “spect-actors”—as the artist calls them—appear to be dangling from a four-story apartment building.
The Building, created in celebration of Liberty Science Center’s 30th anniversary, will stand (or lie) on the center’s entrance hall through the summer.
[via Colossal and Liberty Science Center, images via Liberty Science Center]
