A giant pigeon will soon loom over 30th St. and 10th Ave.
New York City's High Line is a park built on almost a mile and a half of abandoned elevated rail track. It's a fantastic public green space. "Dinosaur," a cast aluminum sculpture by Columbian artist Iván Argote, is the fourth in a series of art installations on the High Line. The hyperrealistic 16-foot-tall statue featuring the ubiquitous and underappreciated New York City pigeon will be in place for eighteen months, beginning in October.
Dinosaur recognizes this seemingly prosaic figure and celebrates its anonymity amongst the urban landscape, while also taking aim at classic monuments erected in honor of great men, who all too often are neither honorable nor great. Argote humorously suggests that, in fact, the not-wild—but no longer domesticated—birds are likely more deserving of being placed on a pedestal and celebrated for their contributions to society than most. Further, by highlighting their origins, Argote reminds viewers that, to some degree, everyone is an immigrant. Even the pigeon, a New York fixture, initially migrated here and made the city their home, like millions of other "native" New Yorkers.
The city is now home to a variety of wildlife including raccoons and coyotes. Beavers are living in the Bronx River again, after being absent for 200 years. In the 70s and 80s, however, we only had squirrels and pigeons. I refuse to consider them pests and I am happy to see that at least the pigeons are being shown some appreciation. Humans domesticated them and then abandoned them, so be nice.
Previously: Hear me out: pigeons are actually really interesting
