Alamo (sculpture)

Alamo, also known as the Astor Place Cube or simply The Cube, is an outdoor sculpture by Tony Rosenthal, located on Astor Place, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is a black cube, Template:Convert long on each side, mounted on a corner. The cube is made of Cor-Ten steel and weighs about Template:Convert. The faces of the cube are not flat but have various indentations, protrusions, and ledges. The sculpture's name, Alamo, is designated on a small plaque on the base and was selected by the artist's wife because its scale and mass reminded her of the Alamo Mission.<ref name="nyt-2005-11-19">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-2009-08-01">Template:Cite news</ref> It was fabricated by Lippincott, Inc.

History

Installed in 1967 as part of "Sculpture and the Environment", organized by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the cube was one of 25 temporary art installations that were intended to remain for a six-month period; however, local residents successfully petitioned the city to keep Alamo. It has since become a popular meeting place in the East Village.<ref name="nyt-2005-11-19"/><ref name="nyt-2009-08-01"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It stands in an intersection, across the street from two entrances to the Astor Place subway station, as well as the Cooper Union Foundation Building.

The cube rotates around a hidden pole in its center.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The cube's sculptor Tony Rosenthal never intended for Alamo to spin, saying in 2005: "I actually thought we would put it on this post and we’d turn it to the position we wanted it and then stick it like that."<ref name="Hariri-Kia Davis Shelasky Cut 2005">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Chang 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> However, the cube was never locked in place. One observer described spinning the cube as "part of the New York experience".<ref name="nyt-2022-12-12">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Alamo in front of an outdoor café after the 2016 renovations

The Alamo in front of an outdoor café after the 2016 renovations

On March 10, 2005, the Parks Department removed the Cube for maintenance. The original artist and crew replaced a missing bolt, and made a few other minor repairs. A makeshift replica made of polyvinyl chloride tubes, named the Jello Cube in honor of Peter Cooper, was placed in its stead. In November 2005, the Cube returned with a fresh coat of black paint, still able to spin.<ref name="nyt-2005-11-19"/><ref name="curbed 20051107">Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2015, the sculpture was covered in a protective wooden box because of the redevelopment of Astor Place, but was eventually removed off-site again for "restoration and repainting" and to keep it "out of harm's way," according to a representative of the New York City Parks Department.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 1, 2016, the sculpture returned to Astor Place after a $180,000 reconstruction and rust removal.<ref>(1) Template:Cite web
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(4) Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2017, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation celebrated the sculpture's 50th year anniversary of its installation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

By May 2022, the New York City Department of Transportation, which was responsible for the sculpture's maintenance, determined that problems with spinning the structure could cause further damage.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> According to city engineers, the cube was in danger of tipping over if it continued to spin.<ref name="Chang 2022" /><ref name="nyt-2022-12-12" /> The city locked it in place with metal braces until additional work on the pivot could eventually prove sufficient to permit it to spin freely again.<ref name=":0" /> In May 2023, the DOT announced the cube had been removed and would be refurbished offsite at a Connecticut foundry.<ref name="CBS News 2023">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=nyt-2023-05-09>Template:Cite news</ref> The sculpture was returned to Astor Place as in August 2023.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Similar cubes

Alamo is one of seven similar cubes created by Rosenthal.<ref>"Tony Rosenthal Cube Sculptures" on the Tony Rosenthal website</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The identical Endover stands on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Rosenthal earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. The cube was donated by the class of 1965 and was installed in 1968. The Endover cube also rotates but its pivot is sunken into the ground, as opposed to the pivot of the Alamo, which is on a separate platform.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pranks

• In June 2003, the Cube was the subject of a prank played by the ATF squad (All Too Flat) in which it was turned into a giant Rubik's Cube.<ref name="nyt-2005-11-19"/> The cube stayed up for about 24 hours before NYC maintenance removed the painted cardboard panels from the sculpture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• In March 2006, the Graffiti Research Lab distributed LED throwies to a group of people to throw onto and decorate the Cube.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• In April 2006, a tub of chalk was left by the Cube and passersby began to draw on it. Seven individuals were later arrested for vandalism. The chalk was washed off by NYC maintenance the following morning.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• In October 2011, the visual artist Olek (Agata Oleksiak) made a crochet covering with their signature camouflage pattern over the cube.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:CbignoreTemplate:Dead YouTube link</ref>
• On December 14, 2011, Caltech students covered the cube in a fitted cloth, making it resemble the Weighted Companion Cube from the video game Portal.<ref>(1) Template:Cite web
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• In October 2013, a fake documentary video went viral claiming to show that a man lived inside the cube.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• For Halloween 2015, a man dressed up as The Cube and stood in its place. At the time Alamo was temporarily off-site because Astor Place was being rebuilt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• 5 in 1 (1973–1974)

External links

• Tony Rosenthal – official website
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