I went to New York this weekend for my sister’s birthday and we decided to have a get together on the roof of her apartment to watch the sunset. As we were baking in the heat, we suddenly saw a plane writing something across the sky. It wrote “Last” and then we tried to guess what it would be, such as, “Last day” “Last chance” “Last Laugh” and so on. It got to “Last Chan” so we searched “Last Chance across New York sky” and sure enough, there was an artist behind it, or under it. We found out that it was artist Kim Beck, who chose the phrases “Last Chance”, “Lost Our Lease” and “Now Open” to comment on the faltering economy. Now I fully support and respect any and all artistic expression, but something irked me about this smoky sky show.
So I did some research to see what other people thought of the event. Most people who responded to it (mostly all through Tweeter) were at first terrified by the phrase “Last Chance”, fearing it as another terrorist attack. Beck commented on her art and how she didn’t want people to feel it was an attack, placing the show in October to avoid any connection to 9/11. This reminded me of how we have to think about our audiences for our antigone projects, and who we think needs to see the work. Along with this, I think it is important to think about who doesn’t need to see the work. I feel like Beck could have thought about her audience a little more than she did, and the repercussions 9/11 had on any airplane too close to the city, let alone one scribbling cryptic messages in the sky. In an article I read, it mentioned how the plane was financially supported by city and state public funding and that Beck was not paid for the project. This struck a nerve in me because I don’t understand why this project was felt to be so necessary by the city or public, when the public didn’t even understand. I felt the work was underwhelming for such a grand gesture, and felt it more useful to focus their finances on a more worthy project. Because in the end, I do think that people were too frightened by the concept to actual understand what Beck’s initial intentions were. Beck said that the Wicked Witch of the West’s “Surrender Dorothy” message over Oz inspired this project. The ozians and New Yorkers seemed to react to the message the same way and were with out a doubt left trembling in their boots.
