This is a series of ten 6' tall numbers that were displayed on Park Avenue between 60th and 70th Streets, one block apart, starting from One and ending ten blocks later with Zero. According to this colorful NY Times article about Mr. Indiana, it is the first time all of the numbers have been displayed together.

Unfortunately the exhibition ended earlier this month — and recently NYCJPG has been preoccupied by Spring Flowers and the like. We would have to have a NYCJPG1, NYCJPG2 — different channels like on ESPN, one entirely devoted to Nature, another Architecture, another Art — there would have to a be a lot of channels to keep you apprised of everything that you may be missing.

Since doing this series, the Rube feels even more strongly that that proper siting can make outdoor art wonderful, and poor siting can make it inert.

In this case he loved how the numbers are so NOT like their surroundings, and so bright in the sun. This made him think of numbers being of the pure realm of thought, as opposed to the murky reality of Park Avenue. And he also liked the sense of progression and suspense — how long would the numbers keep going, how would they change — that he got while walking up Park to see them.

There were spotlights on them (see Fig. 1) for night viewing, but not as bright as the Rube would have liked. Perhaps the electrical line out there only supported a limited wattage.

The complete series of numbers, and more Robert Indiana work, can be seen at the Paul Kasmin gallery site.