On a Thursday evening in early October, the aurora borealis was visible from New York City, inspiring awe in those urban dwellers used to a starless sky. But rather than the nocturne of pinks, greens, and blues seen in northern climes, the firmament above the easternmost parts of Queens was painted a dull, if pretty, magenta. I sought out a more varied chromatic experience in Midtown East, where, on a vacant field abutting the United Nations, eighteen thousand glowing orbs syncopated the colors of the spectrum.
Of course, the comparison is a cheap one. Field of Light, a sprawling installation by British artist Bruce Munro, is tacky public art, the grace of its flickering lights undercut by shoddy execution. The tiny orbs are poised atop fiber-optic stems that meet the ground in a dense, ungainly tangle. The effect fails to evoke the glowing sprites of Princess Mononoke, reminding me instead of a Temu-decorated, bisexual-mood-lit dorm room. The nominative pretensions of the venue, Freedom Plaza, inspire derision, as does its natalist owner, billionaire Stefan Soloviev…
