Artist Pamela Council used 350,000 nails to build a new public work, open to visitors in Times Square.

The Pamela Committee, before their work "The Fountain of Survivors", in Times Square. Image credit: Sunny Shokrae of The New York Times

For most New Yorkers, most of the time, Times Square is a challenge. You may feel intimidated when passing through the crowds of tourists, vendors, breakdancing teams, and multiple Elmos and Iron Mans.

But it is also disturbing to see the area almost cleaned up, as it was during the pandemic last year. As pedestrians slowly begin to fill the area again, a monument has been erected for those who have experienced it all.

The "Fountain of Survivors" was created by the Pamela Committee, an artist whose work is immersed in African American culture. It is an 18-foot-high fountain decorated with more than 350,000 acrylic nails and is exhibited in Times Square Out to December 8.

The hundreds of thousands of acrylic nails used in this structure vary in size, from tiny toenail lengths to rectangular claws. Some are painted pale pink with white tips. Some are magenta, gold and yellow. Others are dazzled by rhinestones and crystals. Some feature hand-drawn designs by local nail artists.

Many are scattered on the carapace of the fountain, and a curved spherical shape is formed around the fountain, similar to the 3D rendering of the organ in an anatomy book. Clouds of pink and magenta are painted inside the structure, with silk fabric clusters on the ceiling, and a golden light fixture in the middle.

The fountain in the middle contains 100 gallons of water, which flows down from the three layers and becomes a large purple-red cauldron.

When one walks into this work of art, the noisy music of the dance troupe, the whispers of the crowd and the bright lights of the billboard seem to disappear. In the hustle and bustle of Times Square, the space is quiet and dreamy, and the sound of water makes people feel refreshed.

“Between the bustling Times Square public and people visiting this private space, nails become this kind of armor and this kind of protection,” said Ms. Council, who used their/their pronouns in a recent interview .

Nails also symbolize self-expression and small behaviors of personal care that many people rely on or ritualized in order to persevere every day.

"We build monuments to win wars and tragedies, but I need a monument to maintain," Ms. Council said. "For some people, this is immortal."

According to the Times Square District Management Association, more than 300,000 people crossed Times Square on any given day before the pandemic. But last year, the number of pedestrians plummeted to less than 50,000 per day.

"There are fewer people on the move in Times Square, but those who are working, they are the people who keep things going, they are the basic workers we have been talking about for the past year and a half," the council lady said.

Now that 64% of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, the city is recovering. In September, nearly 219,000 people returned from Times Square. The fountain was unveiled last week in Duffy Square, a small square at the northernmost triangle of Times Square.

"The sense of survival is a very common concept of urgency that people from all walks of life and experience can recognize at this moment," said Jean Cooney, the artistic director of Times Square, which was commissioned by the public art department and organization of the Times Square Alliance. , "Is the idea of ​​survival for them related to the pandemic or something more personal."

Ms. Cooney believes that this is Ms. Cooney's view of survival, which is mixed with joy and gloomy sense of humor, which can bring much-needed relaxation to the region.

On a recent weekend, 40-year-old Michael Vanfossen and his wife stopped to look at the fountain. "We think this is an Easter egg," Mr. Van Folson said. "But looking at it up close is impressive because it looks like the inside of the ear."

He added: "My wife said it looks like a uterus or fallopian tube. It looks feminine, and all nails make sense."

Clovis Holt, 30, is another bystander (and an artist fellow), he said: "This is 100% black and 100% female." He added: "It's black , It’s from New York, which is exactly what we need."

According to a report by the New York City Auditor General in March 2020, when the pandemic began, 75% of all front-line workers were people of color. More than 60% are women. This reality has led to higher death rates for people of color due to Covid-19 and has exacerbated the already existing economic inequality.

Valerie Wilson, Director of the Race, Ethnicity and Economics Program at the Economic Policy Institute, commented that the pandemic has caused disproportionate losses to the city’s black and brown communities: “I think we are now in There is a greater awareness of the trauma caused by racism and racial inequality," Ms. Wilson said. "This is important to counteract the idea that black people are just resilient. You do what you have to do, but at what price?"

The fountain of the Lady of Parliament is dedicated to those survivors and all survivors, more broadly. "With the fountain, you can make these dedications and dedications on a civic scale," they said.

Ms. Council has used acrylic nails before. In 2012, they created a sculpture called "Flo Jo World Record Nails", using 2,000 acrylic nails to create a replica of a track to commemorate track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner (Florence Griffith Joyner) The 200-meter track that made history.

Ms. Council used the same material in "The Fountain of Survivors", but this time the artist celebrates not a personal achievement, but a respite for anyone in the city.

"Their fountains are very different and completely unexpected. At the same time, they are using these materials that you must have seen before," Ms. Cooney said of the committee ladies. "We all know acrylic nail art, but I have never seen a vibrant mosaic of 400,000 nail art. It's a bit incredibly accessible and familiar, but it turns into something completely spectacular and unexpected."

They said that Ms. Council's choice of nails was in line with the broader exploration of their art work, namely, the juxtaposition between the gorgeous style of black beauties and "people who want to see the black death reappear."

They added: "People love the decoration and culture of Blackness more than they love us."

Ms. Council used the term "Blaxidermy"—a combination of Blaxploitation and taxidermy—as a label for the art they create in this way. (In 2008, Ms. Council opened a Tumblr account with the same name.)

For example, in 2018, the artist created "Red Drink: A BLAXIDEMERMY Juneteenth Festival", which is a concrete fountain shaped like a palm tree with a wide base that can hold 800 gallons of big red soda, which represents sugar. , But also represents human blood. In 2019, they created "BLAXIDERMY Pink", an installation that includes a chocolate fondue fountain and Lustres Pink Lotion.

The Times Square fountain is its own social commentary, but it doubles as a gift. Not for the tourists who walked through Times Square and saw the fountains—though Ms. Council admired them—but for New Yorkers.

"There is just a difference between visiting New York and becoming a New Yorker," Ms. Council said. "You must be inside."