Plans in New York to transform a sculpture destroyed ten years ago into a memorial have finally been dropped. The sculpture Bent Propeller was a 7.6 metre work by Alexander Calder that had been bolted onto a pedestrian platform over Vesey Street close by the World Trade Center. When the twin towers collapsed the sculpture was crushed.
Seeing the potential for a memorial, Calder’s grandson Alexander Rower searched the rubble and found what was left of Bent Propeller commissioned from Calder in 1970. What remains of the sculpture is now in a Port Authority store at JFK Airport with other 9/11 recoveries.
Still, if you are in New York there are plenty of other Calders to see. The artist was the go-to guy for public sculpture there in the late fifties and sixties. His publicly accessible works include 125 at the JFK Airport, Untitled a mobile in the Chase bank at 410 Park Avenue, Saurien at 590 Madison Building, Le Guichet at the Lincoln Center and Cirque Calder at the Whitney Museum.
Images: Left Bent Propeller before and right, after the 9/11 attack
