Check out the newest Art Thou multimedia pieces Art Thou: Your Move and Art Thou: Love.

Last week, I walked to 15th and JFK Boulevard hoping to stretch my legs after a few hours of posting to the Campus Philly events board. While standing at the corner of the intersection, I looked up and spotted the Philadelphia Museum of Art still with it’s “Cezanne and Beyond” banner advertising the exhibit.

As I crossed the street I noticed what looked like a bright red sign. However, as I walked closer I realized that it was Robert Indiana’s most popular sculpture; “Love.”

It is the most recognizable feature of “Love Park,” with red letters with blue and green on their sides, the original idea came in a time when Vietnam engulfed American society. Indiana was inspired when he saw a sign that said, “God is Love” and in reaction created a painting that said, “Love is God.”

Indiana would later turn the piece into the sculpture that one of todays most popular pieces of art in pop culture.

And there it was standing right there, right in front of me here in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

I decided that I would head back to work but then I saw a giant, totem pole-like object over by the Municipal Service Building Plaza across the street. Walking past a monument to former mayor Frank L. Rizzo, I took a closer look at what turned out to be a piece entitled “Government of the People.”

Standing 30-feet high, the sculpture begins at the bottom with two families holding a man and woman above them. The families are obviously struggling but in combining all of their strength, together they are able to lift the couple above their heads. As I looked higher I saw what the man and woman were holding above their heads too. With bare chests both the man and woman proudly hold a representation of the banner of Philadelphia to the heavens.

To me the message of the sculpture says that the city’s people are what hold Philadelphia in such a high place. Without the families and good people that keep the city growing to a higher “standard,” the city would not be what it is today.

The enormous mound of men and women somehow blend in with the cityscape. While wondering how I had never seen the piece before, I took a look around the area wondering how the 30-foot sculpture could possibly slip my notice.

Then I saw something that instantly caught my attention.

It was black and about three feet high, a giant chess piece, a Pawn in the middle of Center City. Then I noticed a few other things, a giant game piece from the child’s board game “Sorry,” then an iron from “Monopoly,” three consecutive dominoes each in a different falling position.

“Have I fallen down the rabbit hole?” I thought.

After some research and a few moments of awe, I realize that it was all a piece of art. Created by Roger White, Daniel Martinex and Renee Petropoulous, the fiberglass and steel game pieces represent a child’s game in the middle of an adult business world.

I sat on a giant Bingo piece inscribed “I 23” and laughed at how funny public art can be. The messages that can be portrayed with an entire city as the audience, an artist can convey so many important messages.

“Your move” is one of the most interesting art works I have seen in a long time. The idea that the society of the business world or even the workers themselves can be played like a child’s game, feels so tastefully offensive that I wanted to keep walking.

But I had been out of the office for quite some time and decided to hold off for another time.

Leave a comment in the comment box about your favorite Philly public art piece and be sure to check out my multimedia pieces for a better visual of the public art I saw.

To learn more and see these art installations check out the newest Art Thou multimedia pieces Art Thou: Your Move and Art Thou: Love.