Anish Kapoor: Descension
John Hill
18. May 2017
Photo: John Hill/World-Architects
Artist Anish Kapoor, working with the Public Art Fund, has installed a version of Descension in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Initially realized at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India in 2014, the current iteration is the first time the artwork has been displayed in the United States.
Anish Kapoor: Descension marks the 40th anniversary of the Public Art Fund and is also an integral part of NYCxDESIGN, the "official citywide celebration of design" taking place this month. The artwork can be appreciated for its purely visceral visual and aural qualities, but its simplicity opens it to multiple interpretations. By disappearing into a void, the pool of water is like an inverted fountain, something ominous rather than celebratory. It also recalls the National September 11 Memorial, where water in the reflecting pools disappears into square voids at the base of the footprints of the departed Twin Towers.
Anish Kapoor: Descension is on view at Pier 1 of Brooklyn Bridge Park until 10 September 2017
Descension sits in a 26-foot-diameter pool surrounded by picketed guardrails for safety. (Photo: John Hill/World-Architects)
Descension sits at Pier 1, part of Brooklyn Bridge Park. (Photo: James Ewing, Public Art Fund, NY © Anish Kapoor, 2017)
