7 Comment

• Robert Boyd January 5, 2012 at 8:45 am

  That photo is not merely a midtown structure, it’s a site-specific piece of art by Russian artist Andre Molodkin called “Monument to the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917” (part of the Molodkin show in the Station Museum across the street). The word on the front, “НЕФТЬ”, meals “oil”–his show is about oil and its overwhelming importance in the world (it sure helped prop the Soviet empire up for a long time–as well tempting the Nazis to invade.)
• Hanabi-chan January 5, 2012 at 9:26 am

  Robert Boyd: Where is the Molodkin structure located? I would like to see it for myself.
• Robert Boyd January 5, 2012 at 10:57 am

  Alabama and La Branch, across the street form the Station Museum which currently has a Molodkin exhibit up.
• What an eyesore January 5, 2012 at 5:25 pm

  How do you say CYA in Russian?
• Cody January 6, 2012 at 10:33 am

  My wife drives by this thing on the way to work (med center area).
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  What’s a “site-specific piece of art”? Sounds like a fancy name for tagging. This looks like one notch above the scribbles I see on stop signs and brick walls.
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  (All that said, if this was done with the owners blessing, more power to him and his art)
• Robert Boyd January 6, 2012 at 11:15 am

  Of course it was done with the owner’s blessing. The owner is the Station Museum. It’s part of an exhibit by the artist.

  “Site-specific” simply means art that was designed for one particular place, sometimes for set period of time (as with this piece) and sometimes permanently. A site specific piece of art is typically integrated with some architecture or landscape. Even though it is a modern term, it applies to plenty of classic artworks. The Sistine Chapel frescos are site specific, while the Arnolfini Wedding is not.
• Cody January 6, 2012 at 11:50 am

  Robert: Thanks for the education. Now I feel bad about my snarky graffiti comment :)
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  Ironically I drove by this today which is what spurred me to come back and comment earlier (I recall seeing the story the other night, so when I saw the piece today I thought “Oh, that’s it…”)
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  I had a tenant that had a bunch of early cold war era Russian ‘propaganda’ pieces. Posters, signs, etc. He was late on his rent and I tried so bad to get him to sell them to me. I think that stuff looks cool.