How an Outdoor Sculpture Became New York City’s New Must-See Attraction
There’s no shortage of incredible things to see—including, if you’re lucky, the inside of some nearby apartments—walking the High Line, the public park built on an elevated rail line along Manhattan’s West Side. But recently something new appeared near West 24th Street that might just be the most compelling sight of all.
“Windy” is a spinning sculpture by the artist Meriem Bennani that was co-commissioned by High Line Art and Audemars Piguet Contemporary. The piece stands nearly nine feet tall and displays the kind of wit and humor that the artist, whose work is in the collections of MoMA and the Whitney, is known for—and fitting for its public presence, it’s captivating to look at and seemingly destined to be the subject of endless Instagram Reels.
“I wanted to do something unlike what I’ve made before,” Bennani, whose best-known work usually features video, explains. “Sometimes you do something and know you could do it a thousand times, so I wanted to try something new. I had made a piece previously that rotates and hits the walls of a gallery, and I knew I wanted to keep making sculptures that have movement and are in-between something cartoonish and something scary. Of course, in the process I was like, why did you do this?! This is a machine that never existed before that will be on the High Line for a year, and it will be the most visible thing I’ve ever made.”
The feedback she’s received from admirers began before the piece was even installed. “The sculpture couldn’t be assembled and then installed, we had to assemble it part way, put it in a truck, and it on the elevators,” she says. “There were instant reactions and people asking questions. It was stressful and amazing. In a museum you can stop time to focus on installing and open to the public when you’re ready, but here you’re faced with the fact that New York doesn’t stop.”
It won’t stop for the year that the piece is on display, either. Bennani is as curious as any High Line visitor to find out what “Windy” will look like in the rain or during a snowstorm, when the piece—which is made of foam and “looks scary but is designed for safety”—makes itself at home in the city’s changing environment. It’ll also be seen differently depending on the viewer, which is saying something considering the park welcomes a reported 8 million visitors a year.
“My favorite part of the High Line is that it makes me feel like a tourist,” she says. “It’s one of the few sightseeing destinations that New Yorkers truly enjoy. People who live here go to the High Line, and it’s just gorgeous. The best thing about it for me is the landscaping; it’s amazing to see all the work they put into it. With that in mind, I wanted to make something that participates in the environment.”
Still, she says, the work isn’t meant to be taken too seriously. When she first conceived of the project, she explains, “I was walking on the High Line and realized I couldn’t make something still. I’d had the busiest year of my life and felt like the Tasmanian Devil, so I wanted to capture that.”
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