Friday, January 06, 2006

Explosive Art Part 4 - The Exploding Chicken




Yet another entry under the always spacious artistic category of explosive art. The Tampa (Fla) Tribune reports on the case of the sculpture of the exploding chicken .

TAMPA – Convention goers soon might be greeted by Tampa's
exploding chicken.

The Tampa Convention Center is one location suggested as a
new home for the signature downtown sculpture with the irreverent
nickname.


"When I heard about this particular piece, I thought this might be an
opportunity for us," said John Moors, administrator of the city's convention facilities and tourism. "It's a gorgeous piece of art." Standing 36 feet high, the aluminum sculpture was commissioned by NCNB National Bank of Florida and erected in 1988. Tampa Tribune columnist Steve Otto dubbed it the "exploding chicken."

The sculpture could go in the park plaza at the convention center, near
the Tampa Marriott Waterside. It would be visible in the vicinity of the water from Tampa General Hospital and Jackson's restaurant.

"It's a real downtown piece. It's a real urban piece," Robin Nigh, the
city's public art administrator, said. "It's not a pastoral piece meant for a park."


Evidently, the sculpture is contoversial, which is why it is something of a white elephant, although some in the city seem to really like it.

"I don't know what everyone is clucking about," City Councilman John Dingfelder said. "If they do try to run it out of downtown, we'll cry foul."


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