Anish Kapoor has made a name for himself in the art world by, in large part, destabilizing our preconceived notions of the physical world. The Indian-born artist will once more be pushing the boundaries of how ordinary materials can be manipulated in extraordinary ways. This time, however, the artist will use elements such as water and artificial black dye for an installation next to the East River in Brooklyn.
To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Public Art Fund (a nonprofit organization that promotes the work of contemporary artists in public spaces), Kapoor's work titled Descension will be on display in New York. The concept is a seemingly bottomless pool filled with water and an all-natural black dye. The water spins into a vortex before collapsing at its center into an abyss. The instillation could, in theory, have many different meanings. For some, Descension might stand in for a portal into another world or a window into the future or past. For others, however, it could be viewed as the transience of our very existence.
For Kapoor—who is perhaps best known for designing Cloud Gate (or simply "The Bean") in Chicago's Millennium Park—Descension is an ongoing installation that had previously been on public display in India, Italy, and France. It's new location—at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park—will be a stark juxtaposition to the quietly drifting East River.
"Anish Kapoor reminds us of the contingency of appearances: Our senses inevitably deceive us," Public Art Fund director and chief curator Nicholas Baume said in a statement. "With Descension, he creates an active object that resonates with changes in our understanding and experience of the world. In this way, Kapoor is interested in what we don’t know rather than in what we do, understanding that the limit of perception is also the threshold of human imagination." The installation will be on view from May 3 to September 10.
