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Sam Hall Kaplan, the author and former Times design critic whose columns run in the Downtown News, really doesn't like the Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugge sculpture destined for the sidewalk in front of Disney Hall. He pleads that other sites such as Pershing Square or the City Hall lawn be considered before it's too late and the street view of Disney Hall is ruined.
The Music Center has been particularly secretive about the proposed "Collar and Bow" sculpture set to grace the front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall at the corner of First Street and Grand Avenue. Seeing the rendering, we now know why.The fiberglass-and-steel sculpture depicting a swirling, open, white-winged collar and black bowtie looks as if it was dropped in haste by a mutating giant green hulk stripping his tuxedo while fleeing a concert. A forced, out-of-scale, sculptural one-liner, it is a bad opening lounge act to the concert hall. It is not needed, at least not sprawling wantonly in front of what is another sculptural work, albeit architectural...
As viewed in a computer rendering, the indulgence clutters the sidewalk, partly blocks the front steps, and compromises a photo angle favored by sightseers from around the world.
Kaplan reports for Fox 11 News on weekends.