I was drifting down Park Avenue last night on my way to hear a talk on Buckminster Fuller by Jonathon Keats, when I came across Jean Dubuffet’s huge “Welcome Parade” of “pathetic monsters.” Both the piece and the placement — the sheer incongruity on that stretch of Manhattan pavement — made me smile. But whatever the intent, it put me in the proper mood to hear all about Bucky’s nutty brilliance. Keats is the author of You Belong to the Universe, a meditation about Fuller’s ambitious, visionary work as a frequently self-deluded “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist.”
Jean Dubuffet’s ‘Welcome Parade’ [1974-2008] in front of the Seagram Building
Polyurethane paint on epoxy 13′ 1″ x 27′ 3″ 16′ 8″ (398.8cm x 830.6 cm x 508 cm) overall (as installed)
