touristy stuff, PLEASE vote!

[SleepyWitch]

hey everyone,
if you could come to Nuremberg (Germany; one of the footie world cup venues) as a tourist, which of the following impressions would you like better? why?


edit: there's a better pic of the chair sculpture on page 2.. look at that first before you vote. thanks to Cuppa for reminding me to get a bigger pic



http://wabashweb.com/germany/week9/sat-well-large.jpg

http://img.aktualne.centrum.cz/17/0/170054-olaf-metzel.jpg
(the same structure as in the first pic, with grey footie stadium chairs on it)

[mono]

I prefer the one without chairs, merely because it looks more elegant, artistic, and worth seeing. The one with chairs looks . . . interesting, and like a unique piece of art, but what it covers seems far more worth seeing. :nod:

[Petrarch's Love]

The one without the chairs because I'm not going to travel halfway 'round the world to see something I could view at a local modern art museum, and because it would make me sad to think of all those people wandering around the stadium chairless. ;)

[Hyacinth Girl]

I sooooooo agree with Petrarch's Love

[Shannanigan]

I like both, but I don't get around much...I would more expect the first one though :)

[kathycf]

Hmm, I am wondering how they got all those chairs stacked so intricately...But the original structure looks nicer and more historic. I am tempted to vote for the chairs, but no...

[Suzieq47]

You're asking for a judgment? In Nuremburg? Like the man says, be careful what you ask for . . .

As to the poll. Without chairs, of course. What is the monument, anyway?

[SleepyWitch]

thanks for your replies :)

hehhe, Suzie :).. judgment...
the monument is the "Schöner Brunnen" (Beautiful Well/Fountain) from the Middle Ages. it's not a well though.. it was meant to be the spire of a church (the one in the background in the second pic) but when they finished it, it was too heavy to lift up, so they put it on the market square...
it's does have water coming out of it now, so it is a fountain after all...
there are rings in the "fence" (???). when you twist the right one you can make a wish... tourists usually turn the wrong one because they go for the golden one, but the real one is black

[SleepyWitch]

The one without the chairs because I'm not going to travel halfway 'round the world to see something I could view at a local modern art museum, and because it would make me sad to think of all those people wandering around the stadium chairless. ;)

hehe, very good point.. the one about travelling halfway around the world, I mean....

[RJbibliophil]

The one without chairs. I agree with almost everyone else. Why do you ask?

[Themis]

Without the chairs!

[Pensive]

The one without the chairs is better! Ah, how much I wish that I could visit it... *sighs*

[Petrarch's Love]

hehe, very good point.. the one about travelling halfway around the world, I mean....


Well, exactly. I mean it may be commonplace for you German types to see Medieval church spires turned fountains lying about the streets, but it's hardly an everyday occurance here in the U.S. We do have our own sights however. In Chicago we have this lovely giant metalic reflective bean:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/bean.jpg

especially spectacular at night:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/2.jpg

and in California we don't have much in the way of monuments but our sunsets more than make up for it :):

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/1999casunset.jpg

Very little in the way of medieval anything in either place however ;).

[SleepyWitch]

The one without chairs. I agree with almost everyone else. Why do you ask?

because there was a huge controversy about this piece of public art in Nuremberg... the city council comissioned the artist to do whatever he likes....the chair thingy was part of an advertising strategy for the World Cup
lots of people were upset about his covering the monument with chairs....

i thought it's a pretty stupid idea to cover the monument up just when thousands of tourists are coming here, of all times....
i thought exactly what Petrarch's Love said: "why would anyone travel halfway around the world to see something they can see at home"...

so i wanted your opinions as 'potential' tourists...

[SleepyWitch]

Well, exactly. I mean it may be commonplace for you German types to see Medieval church spires turned fountains lying about the streets, but it's hardly an everyday occurance here in the U.S. We do have our own sights however. In Chicago we have this lovely giant metalic reflective bean:

;).

i like the bean a lot... the chairs would be OK in themselves, too, if they weren't on top of the monument...

[ShoutGrace]

In Chicago we have this lovely giant metalic reflective bean:

That is the funniest thing I've read today!!!

What tone of voice did you say that in?

That is the kind of thing I can imagine The Unnamable deadpanning. Same kind of humour. If you meant it that way.

[Petrarch's Love]

i like the bean a lot... the chairs would be OK in themselves, too, if they weren't on top of the monument...

Glad you like the bean. I agree that the chairs would be fine if they weren't covering something else. I've been to European cities before where someone's covered some older artwork with some sort of modern display and it always really bugs me. Why can't they just build the new piece on it's own somewhere???!


That is the kind of thing I can imagine The Unnamable deadpanning. Same kind of humour. If you meant it that way.

Well, yes, there was a bit of sarcasm there (what an honor to have my deadpanning skills mentioned in the same breath as The Unnamable :lol: ). While some people enjoy making little joking allusions in the quote tags of their posts, I'm afraid I'm a bit inclined toward the dry wit/sarcasm end of things, though I try to keep it in line since I've noticed people don't seem to enjoy things going over their heads for some reason.;)

I've actually become quite fond of the charming bean, in fact I think it's one of the few pieces of modern sculpture I really truly love, though I was much more sceptical when I first moved to Chicago (it had only been installed a short time before I arrived there so everyone was a bit sceptical). It really is quite a uniquely beautiful object, and strangly suited to all the metal and glass of the surrounding architecture, not to mention it's fun to stand under it. All the same, I sometimes can't help laughing when crowds of tourists are going up the steps toward it since it looks so very much as though they are coming forth to worship the fabulous bean. I mean, it is incredibly absurd.

But then, how can a mere bean compare with the matchless beauty of these softly flowing fountains just the other side of the park. Surely this is rival to the fount at Parnassus ! (note: praise of this object is delivered in a broadly sarcastic tone)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/FamilyFaceFountainMillPark2.jpg

[cuppajoe_9]

Without chairs, but you are somewhat begging the question by making the picture of the monument with the chairs a tenth of the size.

[ShoutGrace]

(note: praise of this object is delivered in a broadly sarcastic tone)




though I try to keep it in line since I've noticed people don't seem to enjoy things going over their heads for some reason. ;)

Got it. Much understood. Thanks.




Without chairs, but you are somewhat begging the question by making the picture of the monument with the chairs a tenth of the size.

I didn’t vote because I couldn’t honestly evaluate the second photograph due to it’s size.

[Petrarch's Love]

I had noticed the different sizes. Does rather skew the impressions doesn't it (not sure if a bigger pic would necessarily make a better case for the chair defence though--might do it some damage in fact since this way we can imagine it would look better bigger).


Got it. Much understood. Thanks.

BTW, ShoutGrace, our little side discussions about senses of humor prompted the addition of one of my favorite Austen quotes to my signature. I say when in doubt meet everything with a little good natured laugher. :nod:

[SleepyWitch]

Without chairs, but you are somewhat begging the question by making the picture of the monument with the chairs a tenth of the size.

i didn't do it on purpose... couldn't find a bigger picture of the one with chairs on the internet..... i didn't want to save it and change the size because i dunno how to do it without making the pic look blurred and pixelish....
I've already considered looking for a bigger pic but haven't got around to it yet... give me some more days to procrastinate and I'll try again :) :) :)

[SleepyWitch]

ah, found a better pick... it does look nice at night...
http://www.kubiss.de/kulturreferat/rasenstueck/presse/bilderdownloads/Metzel_bei_Nacht.jpg

[cuppajoe_9]

I don't think I'm changing my vote.

[Pendragon]

No chairs, my dear Sleepy Little Witch. I love the beauty of the elegant structure, and would prefer no chairs blocking my view if I travel that far to see it! ;)

[Petrarch's Love]

:eek: Help! The giant chair structure is invading. I was right. I don't think a larger picture helped the case for the chairs. If anything it won the case against them. :lol:

[SleepyWitch]

:eek: Help! The giant chair structure is invading. I was right. I don't think a larger picture helped the case for the chairs. If anything it won the case against them. :lol:

hehe, you could write a screenplay based on that idea :) how's about if the chairs become sentient for some reason... maybe due to chemical exhausts or something and then they go off on a killing spree :)
the artist did want to engage peoples' imagination.... :)
the chair thingy is called "Goodbye" (Auf Wiedersehen)... you could call the film "Goodbye, Nuremberg" or something :)

[SleepyWitch]

No chairs, my dear Sleepy Little Witch. I love the beauty of the elegant structure, and would prefer no chairs blocking my view if I travel that far to see it! ;)

hehe :) if anyone was crazy enough to travel that far to see exactly one monument they'd deserve finding those chairs instead :)
hehe, no offence :) just horsing around :)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000007QA.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Virgil]

What an ugly thing. :eek:


Might make an interesting photo for the poetry contest. :goof:

[SleepyWitch]

hehe, great idea :) i bet there are lots of people on here who could write a decent poem even about those chairs :) i'm not one of them :)

[miss tenderness]

definetly without chair :)

[RJbibliophil]

how's it going?

[Madhuri]

The chair structure looks technical and not very aesthetic. I would prefer the one without chairs, the monument seem to be conveying something, history, reason for it being built, signifying something about the country.

[SleepyWitch]

:)
they are dismantling the chairs now... or maybe they're finished already... will check some time...
yep, the monument is historical and typical of that period...