Union Square Metronome Co-opted By Olympics Boosters

The Metronome — that massive backward-forward digital clock on the south side of Union Square — has been reconfigured to count down the days until the IOC announces the 2012 Olympic host city. How crass! The Times explains:

A few weeks ago, passers-by began to notice a change in the Metronome, the enormous public art project on the facade of One Union Square South. Instead of telling time in its usual way, by counting the hours while simultaneously subtracting the remaining time left in the day, the artwork’s digital clock seemed to be counting down to some future date. Last Tuesday, the clock had 70 days remaining, which would place Day 0 at July 6.

With its rapid blur of digitized numbers, the Metronome had always confounded out-of-towners, but now it was bewildering New Yorkers, too. The clock was installed in 1999 and had not wavered from its format. So why the change? What is the significance of July 6?

. . .

It turns out that July 6 is the day the International Olympic Committee will announce the host city of the 2012 Olympics. According to Jay Carson, a spokesman for NYC2012, the group spearheading New York’s Olympic bid, the clock countdown is a joint venture between NYC2012 and the Related Companies, which manages the building and commissioned the Metronome, and was created so that “thousands each day would feel the urgency.” After July 6, the clock will return to its old form.

And while the NYC2012 folks are “enthusiastic about the project,” the artists who created the clock aren’t so sure:

The creators of the Metronome, Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel, had a more tepid reaction. Works of art, Mr. Ginzel said, “are like children,” and he likened the Metronome change to “sending your child off to school and hearing that the teacher has decided to dress it in different clothing.”

Ms. Jones said having the Olympics in New York might be good for the city, but added, “I don’t think artwork should be used as advertising.”