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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Six : Using reflections to transform reality > Metlife Tower, Madison Square Park, New York City, 2006
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08-AUG-2006

Metlife Tower, Madison Square Park, New York City, 2006

The 700 foot high Metlife tower was the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1909. Modeled on the campanile on St. Mark’s Square in Venice, the tower would hold that title for only four years, yet it still remains a landmark alongside of New York’s Madison Square Park. I catch its crumpling, twisted reflection in the rippling waters of the square’s fountain, creating a surreal vision of a historic building. It seems to be shrinking before our eyes –an apt metaphor for a building that once was the tallest of them all but currently ranks as the 15th highest building in New York City.

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Phil Douglis22-Aug-2006 19:27
Your comment is as elegant a summary as one could wish, Jenene. I like your reference to dignity. The grand buildings of another time might be obsolete in many ways, yet they add a dignity to the cityscape that is inescapable. Even though this tower seems to be slowly slipping away from us, it is leaving with its dignity intact.
JSWaters22-Aug-2006 19:10
The tilt makes me feel as if the building is sinking - like the bow of the Titanic must have looked going down. The message is clear, even the most striking and powerful are in danger of becoming obsolete. As for your composition, I'm very drawn to the complimentary rhythms created by the grid of windows and the grid of the fountain's cobblestones going in different directions. This gives the illusion of movement. The clock, a decoration once included on many major buildings, slips quietly beneath the covering of trees, still dignified in its meeting with destiny.
Jenene
Phil Douglis18-Aug-2006 19:39
Good point, Ai Li. The tilted building suggests that it is receding, shrinking structure, its stature diminished and its time perhaps past. The blurred clock with its backwards numbers does suggest the turning back of time. If only we could.
AL18-Aug-2006 09:38
Not only the distortion, but also your tilt angle made it appear stumbling before our eyes. Looking at the reflected clock, don't we wish to turn back the time and undo many things?
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2006 22:45
This building has another connection to the World Trade Center -- each had held the title of the world's tallest building. One now seems to shrink before us, while the other has been attacked and destroyed. Thanks, Tim, for this train of thought.
Tim May13-Aug-2006 21:09
Metlife - Metropolitan Life - for me this is a reflection of the destruction of life, especially in metropolitan surrounding, since the destruction of one of the other tallest in the world symbols of power.
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