On the road to the Nome King in Frank Baum’s Ozma of Oz, an obscure sequel to the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy happens upon a Hammering Man.
The iron giant is a fine fellow,’ said Tiktok, ‘and works as steadily as a clock. He was made for the Nome King by Smith & Tinker, who made me, and his duty is to keep folks from finding the underground palace. Is he not a great work of art?’
Jonathan Borosky’s working stiff continues to hammer, which can’t be said of those it so ambiguously represents. Besides the one in front of the Seattle Art Museum, which at 48 feet is the largest in the series after one in Frankurt, Borosky’s men – nearly a dozen strong – pound out silent and unchanging beats in NYC, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Basel, Seoul, and Washington, D.C.
In Seattle at least, the big man is hit. Against the
backdrop of Robert Venturi’s facade, which was partially inspired by
Chinese restaurants, it holds its place: Venturi’s complex elegance
vrs. Borosky’s droning mechanics.
Even so, I prefer its colorful kin. They’re short, but they know how party and wouldn’t consider pounding away at nothing for the duration of their unnatural lives.
(Image via.
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