Walking to the Sky

"Walking to the Sky" is a public sculpture created by Johnathan Borofsky. The sculpture is located in Rockefeller Center, and is made of stainless steel with fiberglass figures. I remember seeing this sculpture in person when I was a child, and being amazed at it's size and realistic features, (other than the fact that people are walking on a pole on a 75 degree angle). As I study it now it perplexes me as to why this was so special as to have it placed in the middle of such a main city as New York City. Obviously the artist had a purpose or message in mind that motivated him to create such a sculpture. It obviously is not trying to encourage people to try doing this because this would be physically impossible. After revieiwing it further, and reading the background of the artist and of this sculpture, I can now appreciate the beauty in the purpose of this art, as I already admired it's physical presence simply because of it's overwhelming size. (100 feet tall)


The reason why I can now appreciate this work of art is because it has sentimental meaning to the artist. It reflects a time in his life when he was a child, and his father used to tell him a story of a friendly giant who lived in the sky. In these stories, the father and his son would meet the giant in the sky, and the giant would give them advice about what everyone needed to do back on earth to live better lives and to enjoy them to the fullest. It was a way for Borofsky's father to intrigue his son with a compelling unrealistic story that would teach his son positive underlying messages and instill important values in him. From these memories, Borofsky created a sculpture resembling a similar story of people traveling to the sky. It portrays what he derived from these childhood stories.


When asked about his sculpture, the artist described it as being a "celebration of the human potential for discovering who we are and where we need to go." With a message so pure, it makes it hard not to appreciate the artist's work. It is such an inspirational piece of art, but may not be admired upon forst encounter. Now understanding what the motivation and message behind this sculpture is, I admire it and support the message it gives to it's viewers.