BY BONNIE ROSENSTOCK | No. For starters, it’s not a white Death Star — or a Death Star of any kind. That’s located on the other side of Astor Plaza.
A new sphere ensconced in a square has taken up temporary residence on Astor Place, joining the iconic “Cube” (proper name, “Alamo”), now hunkered down with nowhere to move.
The faint writing on the wall of the encasing informs us that it is advertising Louis Vuitton and Nike “Air Force 1” by Virgil Abloh (there’s a subtle swish in the colorful sphere design), with the details May 21 – 31, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., at 73 West St., in Brooklyn.
Indeed, there’s an exhibition open to the public at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse on those dates, which showcases the creative dialogue between Nike and Louis Vuitton, envisioned by Maison’s Men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh for the spring-summer 2022 collection prior to his passing on Nov. 28, 2021.
The 47 editions of the Nike Air Force 1 sneaker, created by Abloh in partnership with Nike for Louis Vuitton, will be displayed in physical and virtual form. Coinciding with the exhibition, a number of corresponding installations can be found around New York City and the world. Astor Place is so honored.
In other words a corporate ad on public property pretending to be a work of public art.