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i went by the menil and rothko chapel yesterday and the broken obelisk in the reflecting pool in front of rothko is gone.  anybody know what's up?

The pool bottom was deteriorating and no longer allowed the water to reflect the obelisk very well. THe base of the obelisk was never really designed for immersion, and the base was corroding severely.

The pumps were located very far away and required excessive HP to overcome friction loss as well as other problems with control. The velocity of the supply jets was interfering with the smoothness of the surface, further reducing the reflective quality of the water. The lighting was obtrusive, consisting of loose fixtures set on the bottom with exposed wires. The list was extensive.

The base, plumbing, pool, planting, irrigation, paving, and edge will be completely renovated in a couple of months. All of this work required the removal of the obelisk.

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  • 9 months later...

MLK MEMORIAL

Broken Obelisk battle-born

Sculpture once rejected by City Hall is getting restored and rededicated

By LISA GRAY

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

On Thursday a crane lowered Broken Obelisk, one of the city's best-known sculptures, back into its reflecting pool in front of the Rothko Chapel, and tomorrow or Wednesday, conservators expect to finish their 18-month restoration project. But today, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the rusty, elegant sculpture once again stands as a reminder that much of Houston once considered King to be more a rabble-rouser than a saint.

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The pool bottom was deteriorating and no longer allowed the water to reflect the obelisk very well. THe base of the obelisk was never really designed for immersion, and the base was corroding severely.

The pumps were located very far away and required excessive HP to overcome friction loss as well as other problems with control. The velocity of the supply jets was interfering with the smoothness of the surface, further reducing the reflective quality of the water. The lighting was obtrusive, consisting of loose fixtures set on the bottom with exposed wires. The list was extensive.

The base, plumbing, pool, planting, irrigation, paving, and edge will be completely renovated in a couple of months. All of this work required the removal of the obelisk.

That's what you get for using our Yummy and nutrient rich Houston tap water. DRINK UP !

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  • 9 months later...

According to The New York Times (Oct. 22, 2006), a new 20 foot-tall, 37-foot wide sculpture "constructed out of fiberglass, pulverized marble and lime cement" is to be installed on Nov. 12. The artist. Michael Somoroff. describes it as "a sculptural translation of light as it moves across the chapel." (Pictures of Illumination I can be seen on the artist's website.)

If I'm understanding this correctly, it will be installed inside of the chapel. Wonder how they'll shoehorn it in there?

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If I'm understanding this correctly, it will be installed inside of the chapel. Wonder how they'll shoehorn it in there?

i may be totally out of line but i think the chapel is fine how it is.

i've been going there for years. the one thing that is very moving

for me is that the meditative space remains the same as everything

else outside of it changes.

if installed inside i'm not sure how they could still have weddings

and funerals there.

Edited by torvald
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according to the plat on his website, it appears to be going outside.

then i wonder how long before it is tagged?

i think the only thing saving the current sculpture is that it is surrounded by water.

Edited by torvald
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According to The New York Times (Oct. 22, 2006), a new 20 foot-tall, 37-foot wide sculpture "constructed out of fiberglass, pulverized marble and lime cement" is to be installed on Nov. 12. The artist. Michael Somoroff. describes it as "a sculptural translation of light as it moves across the chapel." (Pictures of Illumination I can be seen on the artist's website.)

If I'm understanding this correctly, it will be installed inside of the chapel. Wonder how they'll shoehorn it in there?

It's going to be on the east side of the chapel.

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Do they ever have problems at the Cullen Sculpture Garden? I'd hope people have a little respect.

there is night security at the cullen sculpture garden. i have

seen some of the sculptures near the menil tagged... forgive

me , i don't know what they're called... the geometric ones

in the park there.

plus, tagging is all about disrespect and public damage. you

can reference some of the graffiti threads on this forum.

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there is night security at the cullen sculpture garden. i have

seen some of the sculptures near the menil tagged... forgive

me , i don't know what they're called... the geometric ones

in the park there.

plus, tagging is all about disrespect and public damage. you

can reference some of the graffiti threads on this forum.

i guess i have a little faith that they would choose targets like a bus stop or street light control box instead. in the 90's the grinders made it rough for us by grinding on marble, limestone, etc on downtown building causing it to chip off. Some of the old timers made it rough for them by beating em up.

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i guess i have a little faith that they would choose targets like a bus stop or street light control box instead.

sadly, from experience, i don't.

they'll tag those things but they also tag old buildings,

murals (like the one at mary's), the red ball finials on

the new 59 bridges, shop windows, the menil sculptures...

just look at the sears building on allen parkway.

also:

Taggin is all about fame. Like when NEXT won the houston press award for best Houston tagger his fame level shot up. Or when "REBS" and "RITE" got on the news for taggin all the freeway signs and causin 10s of thousands of dollars worth of damage, their fame level shot up. And if you remember what rebs tag looked like, you'll see you don't need a lot of skill to get a lot of fame. Taggin is about gettin your piece on a 150 foot tall billboard. . .
Edited by torvald
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I think the new sculpture is going to make the best art setting experience in Texas even better.

Before the Nasher Collection was committed to the Dallas Arts District, I was kinda hoping it would make a home in the Fort Worth Cultural District, that the park next to the Kimball is perfect for a sculpture garden. A Nasher annex in Fort Worth is still on my wish list.

The park with the Rothko Chapel is just about my favorite place in Texas.

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  • 1 month later...

Barnet Newman's 'Broken Oblisk', in the plaza pool in front of the Rothko Chapel, was defaced with a swastika several years ago. It has since been completely refurbished and resealed and is back in place. This sculpture, which is arguably Houston's most controversial and artistically important outdoor expression, was dedicated to MLK and its defacement was a crude political act and not an ordinary 'tagging' if that word can be used at all.

The new sculpture seems a little wayward to me. It seems too close to the building. The back appeals to me more than the front where a large, vagina-like appendage spills forth above the entrance to the cave. It is somewhat more magical at night. I think I will like this sculpture over time but at the moment I'm feeling a little squimish about it.

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  • 3 months later...
This sculpture, which is arguably Houston's most controversial and artistically important outdoor expression, was dedicated to MLK and its defacement was a crude political act and not an ordinary 'tagging' if that word can be used at all.

i just need to say that dedicating that sculpture to MLK was a joke! Could we commision a sculpture specifically for him & not just rename an old one. Seems kinda disrespectful 2 me.

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I dont' think that Broken Obelisk was was rededicated to MLK. It was made specifically as a memorial to him - far from disrespectful.

That had always been my impression, too.

Hair splitting seems to be in order. While Broken Obelisk was not constructed as a memorial to Dr. King, it had not been dedicated in any way until after Dr. King's assassination; "rededicated" doesn't apply.

In my opinion it's a fitting tribute. That Barnett Newman probably didn't have Dr. King in mind at the project's conception doesn't negate its appropriateness.

From the MOMA Learning website:

The idea for Broken Obelisk (an obelisk is a tall, four-sided structure that comes to a pyramidlike point) came to Newman in 1963, but he was unable to create the work until he was introduced to a steel manufacturer in 1967. In 1968 Newman dedicated Broken Obelisk to the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated that same year

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  • 4 months later...

The Rothko Chapel and assorted pieces by Rothko from the Menil collection will be featured tonight on Simon Schama's "Power of Art" episode about Mark Rothko. Show starts at 10 pm on KUHT. Mies' Seagram building and Philip Johnson's Four Seasons restaurant are also heavily featured. If you can, watch it in high def.

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