The mischievous Berlin-based artists Elmgreen & Dragset—recently named as the curators of the 2017 Istanbul Biennial—unveiled a new site-specific Public Art Fund sculpture in New York’s Rockefeller Center last month. Van Gogh’s Ear is a kidney-shaped “swimming pool”, empty of water and tilted vertically, with an eye-popping aquamarine interior. The work has passed muster with the general public, says Michael Elmgreen, who has seen “tons of Instagram selfies” being snapped. The pair obviously have a thing about swimming pools; their folded-in-half “bent pool” is due to be erected outside the Miami Beach Convention Center, as one of six new permanent works of public art commissioned by the City of Miami Beach. Visitors will not be able to swim in it, but perhaps paddling will be allowed.
