Passersby in downtown Tampa - or anyone with a view of the waterfront just north of the Platt Street Bridge - may have been wondering about the giant, red steel sculpture sprouting up in MacDill Park this week. It’s part of Chattanooga-based artist John Henry’s Peninsula Project, which brings his monumental sculptures to seven Florida cities: Boca Raton, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, Tallahassee and Tampa.
Technically, I have to file Henry’s Big Max under plop art (not my favorite species of public art) but it’s nice to see something - anything - new downtown. Between this piece, the offerings of Lights on Tampa and the opening of the History Center, the city’s core should be significantly spiffed up in time for the Super Bowl.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Christopher Hubbard // Nov 13, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I agree with your idea that ‘Big Max’ is plop art - the sculpture is placed rather than being specifically designed for a site. However, there are some qualities to the piece that cause it to interact with its site a bit more than your average piece of plop art. The radii of Henry’s sculpture cause the viewer’s eye to dark back and forth between sculpture and landscape, and given the right placement and sculpture, can redefine or highlight a particular space. Granted, ‘Big Max’ is no ‘Tilted Arc’ and probably isn’t the best example of Henry’s work with radii (’Sun Devil’ really works in Naples), but like you said, it’s something.
2 Megan Voeller // Nov 13, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I love your comment - and thank you for helping me see something more in this piece.
I was stopped by a passerby while taping the video who told me - with a big smile and considerable enthusiasm - that Big Max’s vibrant color reminded him of the Chicago Calder.
3 Big Max at MacDill Park // Nov 20, 2008 at 8:45 am
[...] “Big Max” is the name of John Henry’s sculpture for Tampa, and is already installed downtown at MacDill Park (map) on the Riverwalk. The sculpture is huge, and was just set down in the park, leading some to call Big Max “plop art.” [...]
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