By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — The celestial musings of Albert Einstein and John Coltrane provide the unlikely inspiration for a new public art exhibit rising high above a parking lot at the intersection of Tenth Avenue and West 18th Street.
"Jupiter," is a 75 by 25 foot billboard, unveiled Tuesday night by the Friends of the High Line and the Parks Department where artist Demetrius Oliver placed five photos in the shape of planets, aligned against a black backdrop.
"It's weird, it's abstract,” said Aatish Patel, a 28-year-old Chelsea resident on his way to work Wednesday morning. "It’s better than the Armani Exchange ad that used to be there."
The project seeks to call to mind Einstein’s efforts to reduce the universe's complexities into something basic, an approach that subsequently inspired Coltrane’s work on jazz classics like "Jupiter."
"It looks dreamy," said Malaika Ali, a 20-year-old student from the Bronx. "It looks like a secret camera."
The five images each give the sensation of looking through the fisheye lens of one camera. None contain humans, only objects such as a telescope, umbrellas and violin cases.
Ali's favorite photo shows a bed tucked against the wall.
Patel, who found the same image "sort of kinky," said he appreciated the palette of blacks and browns, creating a homey feeling and signaling the coming change of seasons.
Another commuter along Tenth Avenue, 25-year-old video producer Steve Cozzarelli, said that once he took a moment to figure out what he was looking at. He favored the middle image that "looks like some kind of robot hands."
Before it closes on Oct. 6 (the end of the current lunar cycle), the High Line Art Commission is also bringing a series of events to complement the billboard.
Student musicians and artist Blanche Bruce will perform Coltrane's "Jupiter" on Sept. 18, 21 and Oct. 2.
The Amateur Astronomers Association from Inwood will also host a stargazing session on Sept. 21 to acknowledge the autumnal equinox and the Jupiter opposition (when the Earth moves between the planet and the Sun).
