The Arc Tilts Back Towards The Artist

The downside of the mayor’s plan to install crappy public art around the city? It’s emboldening scofflaws:

The creators of the 8-foot-tall bench that captivated some New Yorkers when it mysteriously appeared on Houston Street last week don’t want their guerilla art installation back.

“All this work, once it’s installed, it’s kind of just left to the fates,” said Tod Seelie, who collaborated with street artist Brad Downey on the bench and photographed its stealth installation in the middle of the night. “The idea is to see how time changes it.”

The bench, which first appeared on a median strip on Houston and Suffolk streets last Monday, was taken down last week, and it’s now looking like it will be scrapped. City sanitation crews already have been contacted about hauling it away from the Department of Transportation warehouse in upper Manhattan, where it is waiting to be claimed.

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Among those applauding the effort was Christina Ray, who hosts Conflux, an annual art fair in Brooklyn that celebrates artists like Downey and Seelie. “The bench is a bold statement,” she said. “It’s so public and unmistakable, it’s a kind of stop you in your tracks kind of intervention. A pedestrian clearly has to address it.”

The city’s transportation department took the sculpture down last week after it was unable to determine where the bench came from. Officials feared that since the bench was improperly affixed to the street, it could become a safety hazard.

“We do discourage renegade artwork, but we consider public art critical to vibrant street life and we are working to begin a program that allow for the temporary installation of art in some of the city’s public spaces,” an agency official said. “he bottom line, with this one especially, is safety.”

Will they be fined for littering?

Get ready for more Tilted Arcs . . .