Paralleling Architectures/Monument Grafting by la flaneuse
March 20th, 2007 4:08 PMI took some digital pictures of monuments/landmarks in New York, printed them and cut them in approximate shape of polaroids, and taped them (hey, we had tape; who uses rubber cement anymore?) to their counterparts in....Kansas City, Missouri. (I realized after the fact that some of the ones I picked were more landmarks than monuments.)
Empire State Building --> Power & Light Building
Art Deco skyscrapers that change color on top, but the Power & Light building does it all in one evening. Ooooh. Check out one of my favorite photos by someone else of the P & L building at night because the photos I took were only during the day.
Grand Central --> Union Station
Cool old train stations. KC's Union Station is the second largest in size in the U.S., right after Grand Central. Unfortunately, KC no longer has that level of train service.
Penn Station --> The Eagle Scout tribute fountain
After NYC stupidly demolished Pennsylvania Station, Kansas City got one set of the four Day and Night statues that guarded the old station entrances; they became, along with eagles from the station, the Eagle Scout tribute fountain at 39th & Gillham. I did not know this until after I moved to Jersey for grad school and, dismayed by the current Penn Station, was reading info online about the old station.
Roosevelt Island Tram --> Soon...! ?
This inclusion is kind of a joke. Last November, KC unexpectedly passed a light rail proposal from a former Kansas Citian who now lives in Virginia. It was the guy's 7th or so petition initiative, and his proposal also included a gondola tram between Union Station up a short hill to Liberty Memorial and Penn Valley Park--a tourist attraction instead of transportation, basically. The light rail proposal has many technical flaws, and voters will probably have to revote on a revised proposal. A lot of people wanted light rail, but it is unknown how many really wanted a tram. We awaiting the clamoring. So I put a photo of NYC's functional Roosevelt Island tram on the staircase leading up toward Liberty Memorial, roughly along where the gondolas might run.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art --> The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Grand, stately art museums. I cheated for this one and used an image of the Met I found online since I didn't have time to go by the museum before I left for KC. The Nelson is about to get a modern edge when its addition opens in June.
Union Square--> Mill Creek Park
These equate in my mind as public spaces often used for civic protests. On Sunday afternoons in Mill Creek, protestors continue the ongoing demonstration against Bush and the war in Iraq. The southern edge of this park is a popular place for demonstrators on all kinds of issues.
The placed photos: Empire State Building
The placed photos: Inside Grand Central
The placed photos: Inside Penn Station
The current Penn Station includes photos of the grand old one the city demolished.
The placed photos: Penn Station Eagle
One of the eagle sculptures from the old Penn Station sits outside the current complex
The placed photos: Roosevelt Island Tram
The placed photos: Union Square
Grand Central in Union Station
This desk is around a corner from the main lobby of the station. It looks like there used to be a guestbook here.
Inside Union Station
Union Station
This used to be a waiting area for train passengers; now it's an entrance hall to traveling museum exhibits and the science museum and is also used for events.
See how sad Penn Station is now?
Memories of the old Penn Station inside the current sad one, next to the KC plaque that describes the statuary in the Eagle Scout fountain.
Eagle reunion
A surviving Penn Station eagle in NYC at the base of one in KC.
Eagle Scout fountain as seen from the sidewalk
NYC tram taped where someday a KC one might dangle
Is this what you want here, Kansas City?
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Met to Nelson
I swiped this photo from the internet because I didn't get by to snap one of my own.
Mission accomplished
The Met photo is that little white rectangle visible in the lower right corner.
Union Square photo taped on bench in Mill Creek
I tried taping another one to the fountain base, but it blew away.
Mill Creek protestors
This is toward the end of a regular Sunday afternoon protest that's been held for years. The person in costume facing the traffic has a George W Bush head on.
