/ / / /

New York's George Washington Statue Was Dressed Up as a Bumbling Tourist

October 3, 2011 at 4:03 PM | by | Comments (2)

The first thing you need to know is that we checked out this story as thoroughly as we could, because we don't want to be that site that posts an Onion story as if it's real news. Here's the Kickstarter page for the art project, which is—quote—"to transform [the George Washington statue in Union Square] into a contemporary monument to tourism [with] large scale props such as an 'I Love NY' hat, camera, NYC subway map, and local shopping bags."

Artist Leon Reid IV raised over $3,000 for his work, and secured approval from the New York Park Department. See: blog announcement here, extensive DNAinfo coverage here, HuffPo rundown here, Village Voice writeup here, Gothamist coverage here, etc. This thing was for real. They called it the "Tourist-in-Chief" and it apparently happened over the weekend. The imposing and austere bronze statue of America's first President, the American "Father of Our Country," the oldest statue of Washington in the possession of the City of New York, holding a shopping bag and "fumbling" with a subway map. Sigh.

This is one of those "did this really have to get done" situations for us. It's not offensive or even particularly interesting—and we're geeks for anything pop culture-y that has to do with tourism—as much as it just leaves us kind of meh. As the artist himself anticipated, "responses will be mixed, with some positive and some negative."

We're also not crazy about the process the led to the approval, which apparently involved some lawyering. And we're also a little skeptical about the project's stated goals, which included "making George Washington more relatable to the public" and "educating the public about Washington's role in NYC history. No, the guy just wanted to dress George Washington up like a tourist.

What do you think? Ironic and biting yet poignant ode to the surreal landscape of contemporary tourism, or just something that's kind of stupid?

[Photo: Leon Reid IV / Kickstarter]

Comments (2)

Post a Comment

Return to » New York's George Washington Statue Was Dressed Up as a Bumbling Tourist


funny

I actually think it's pretty funny! it tells me more about Union Square and NYC than a stupit elephant on his nozzle! the fact that the artist fought for his porject diserves respect!
jow on October 3, 2011 at 5:20 PM #Permalink

meh

yes, kudos to the artist for fighting for his project, but this does nothing for me. i don't dislike it, but it leaves me cold
juliab on October 5, 2011 at 8:59 AM #Permalink

Return to » New York's George Washington Statue Was Dressed Up as a Bumbling Tourist

Join the conversation!

Not a member? .
Use of this Site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective 3/21/12) and Privacy Policy (effective 3/21/12). © Condé Nast. Your California Privacy Rights. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.
Ad Choices