Politics
600,000 Balloons, Turned Into Sculpture at the Armory
“Balloon Story” is an extravaganza, its creative producer said.
Good morning. It’s Friday. Today, and on Fridays through the summer, we’ll focus on things to do in New York over the weekend.
Credit…Andrew Shelley
There have been balloons in the Park Avenue Armory before, but never like this.
These not a few dozen balloons for decorations at galas attended by boldface names. These are 600,000-plus balloons that have been shaped and squeezed into sculpture — an astronaut here, a grand piano there, an octopus with tentacles dangling from the ceiling up there. Not far away is an Eiffel Tower, at 25 feet the tallest piece. Close by is a Statue of Liberty.
The installation is called “Balloon Story.” Erica Domesek, its creative producer, said the idea was to “balloonify” the armory, where everyone from soldiers to fashion-show models has marched through its huge drill hall. “What would a jungle look like, all out of balloons?” she said. “What would the sea look like, all out of balloons?”
The answer is a whimsical, imagination-run-wild spectacle. But unlike Jeff Koons’s sculpture “Balloon Dog” — made of mirror-polished stainless steel — the balloons in “Balloon Story” were made of latex and were tied by hand.
And there are balloons-in-balloons, like the moon rocks in the section with the astronaut. Domesek said the designers inflate smaller balloons and stuff them into a larger balloon that will encompass all of them to get the abstract, soft feel: “It’s not a circle; it’s not an oval. It has dimension and texture.”
