Jeff Koons Train (conception) 2010
So LACMA is going to build this crazy train thing and Esquire is really pumped about it “If it gets built” (which is kind of where my mind is at right now, if) but for them to call it the “will become the first iconic monument of the 21st century” is kind of a stretch. I can think of two Chris Burden sculptures that already seem more monumental, the Skyscraper he did in NY and his Lights installed in front of…LACMA, actually.
To top it all off, Koons said something weird and druggy about it “I really didn’t have any ideas, but I saw off in the distance a crane out in the field, and I thought, you know, the crane’s such a great image, it’s a wonderful readymade, it’d be really nice to do something with it. And I guess also, on kind of a subconscious level, it’s like a Led Zeppelin stairway to heaven or something.”
Jeff, can I call you Jeff? Jeff, really? This is the best you could come up with for a massive installation? I agree cranes and trains are iconic, and it’s cute that they rhyme, but it seems to me like you are getting lazy. You have done some truly amazing stuff, but it seems like you woke up one morning, and realized that Michael Goven called last week and you haven’t called him back about an idea for a piece yet, so you just threw this together last minute so you could get it to him before he had that meeting with the Board. Just saying.
Then again, this IS the most amazing thing he thought of in a very long while, IMHO. Especially if there will be smoke coming out. But then again, I almost bought this toy for my (3yr old) son so I’m biased on this piece. I love it actually. Keep on smoking what you’re smoking Jeff.
