Bad News Turned Good News

There are some situations when it's difficult to decide whether the news is good or bad. A month ago, I read in the LA Times that the sixty-five foot tall sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and, his wife and collaborator, Coosje van Bruggen could not be installed as planned in front of the Disney Concert Hall. The sculpture--in the shape of a giant bowtie and collar-- had already cost the Music Center about $4 million and now, because the metal and fiberglass sculpture had developed dangerous cracks compromising its structure, and therefore its safety, the future of the whole project is uncertain.  It's estimated that fixing the problem will cost another $3 million. At this point, there are no funds to cover the additional cost. To add insult to injury, the artists made a statement blaming the engineers for the structural problems and accepting no responsibility for this situation. To be completely honest, I don't find this development all that upsetting. After all, I have said before that Frank Gehry's Disney Hall is a remarkable sculpture in its own right, and doesn't need another sculpture in front of it that would only distract people from viewing the great building...