On a night I should absolutely be writing a paper and a couple of other posts I've been planning, I simply had to post about this:
[photo]
This is the recently unveiled miniature version of the 10-15 foot statue which Apple will be installing on its campus in honor of Steve Jobs. It has received a lot of backlash, to say the least. Business Insider declared it "hideous," while Huffington Post, attempting to be more classy, calls it "unfortunate." "Creepy," "Pez dispenser," and just plain "weird" are the epithets being given to this piece all over the web.
While the initial strangeness of the bust being atop such a tall column is certainly unusual, I have to admit really liking this piece! It allows for a great deal of imagination and reflection in its interpretation, and the rough stylizing, especially of the column, is eye-catching and anything but boring. A forward-thinker seems prime for a non-traditional tribute, one that neither harkens back to Greek mythology nor looks ahead to a savior-cult following.
Concerns that its purposefully imperfect look does not match the man is rather humorous; to be "true to Steve Jobs' design preferences" would apparently require a large amount of brightly colored plastic accented with aluminum. Nothing against that for computers and iPhones and whatnot, but that sounds like a truly hideous statue to me. I realize that's hyperbole, but think about it: a "perfect" statue would likely say little if anything about the man or his work, only present his style preference and physical form.
On the whole, this statue reminds the viewer of computers, calligraphy, the man himself, and difference in its own right.
What more could a game-changer in technology want in his memorialization?
