In New York City today the Public Art Fund is opening a free-to-the-public project by conceptual artist Tatzu Nishi. Nishi built a contemporary apartment with all the fixings—including furniture from Bloomingdale's—that envelops the Christopher Columbus statue at the center of Columbus Circle. The catch? Said statue is perched on a 70-foot column, so the entirety of the Discovering Columbus installation sits atop six stories of scaffolding.
In an interview with the New York Times today, Nishi said it was the height that attracted him to the Columbus statue in the first place. "By raising people's eyes, you can see things with a different perspective. That's an important point of it."
The artist, who was born in Japan and now lives in Berlin, is known for building living spaces around monuments, injecting fresh interest in often overlooked pieces. The idea is to combine interiors and exteriors by muddying the lines between public domains and private spaces. Here's a look at some of his other works:
Photos via Designboom
· Tatzu Nishi's "Discovering Columbus" Fashions A Penthouse Apartment For Columbus Effigy [Architizer]
· A Q&A with Tatzu Nishi [NYT]
· Past Works by Tatzu Nishi [Designboom]