You Can Give Your Father What My Dad Gave Me

I know Father's Day isn't until Sunday, but maybe you can start early, with this Wednesday's, June 11th public art project in Rockefeller Center. In recent years, Rockefeller Center has become a shopping haven, with Anthropologie and J.Crew to name a few of my favorites. Yet, with the Christmas tree and NBC studios nearby, the whole area has become a tourist trap. But, the Public Art Fund is bringing art back to the people. Perhaps you remember the Electric Fountain by Tim Noble and Sue Webster? The Public Art Fund is supporting Chris Burden's structure entitled, What My Dad Gave Me along with the aforementioned Olafur Eliasson waterfalls, which is set to open at the end of the month.

Soaring to a height of nearly 65 feet, this work will be constructed entirely of Erector set parts, you remember those things you used to play with, don't you? The pieces come together to create a realistic skyscraper, It is every child's dream turn reality. Burden pays homage to the skyscraper, the iconic image of New York, which generations ago, the men of New York laid forth the foundation, upon which we build the success of today. The thought process has a truly masculine feel, one your father is sure to love.

Chris Burden is an American artist from Boston, whose work has been exhibited at the South London Gallery (2006); Gagosian Gallery, New York and Beverly Hills (2007 and 2004); BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England (2002); Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (2002); Gagosian Gallery, London (2002); Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California (2000); and Tate Gallery, London (1999).