Making

It has been described as a bouquet of boats with more than 200 canoes, kayaks, rowboats, sailboats and surfboards weighing between 60-125 pounds each. Remarkably, the California artist Nancy Rubin arranged this bouquet, entitled “Big Edge,” without a set of plans, sketches or three dimensional model.  “You have to put it together in your brain,” she says. “It’s hard to grasp it all at once. But it comes quickly for me.” The sculpture was tested for earthquakes, wind loads, snow, sandstorms and flash floods before it was installed in the traffic circle at Las Vegas’ CityCenter resort complex. The piece is hard to approach because it is surrounded by swirling roads filled with swiftly moving vehicles. Perhaps the best place to study the piece is from the lower-level hotel rooms that surround it. The work is stunning. It is packed full of energy and seems to defy gravity. When you get close you can see the cables that hold the boats in place and small holes drilled in the hulls so they don’t collect water.

Rubin describes her work as “honest,” hiding nothing, but she refrains from commenting on the irony of placing a boat bouquet in the middle of the Mojave Desert. She does not attach a specific meaning to the work. Rather, she allows the visitors to conjure their own thoughts and interpretations. However, she does speak about the work’s connection to the human body and human activity. Rubin explains: “They’re vehicles for humans. They all refer to us …. They have an essence of the life they’ve led. There’s this odd scarring.” Utilizing common everyday objects, she has created other works from water heaters, mattresses and recreational vehicles. Interestingly, 10 years before this work was completed, the San Diego Convention Center Authority chose not to move forward with a similar boat sculpture because they felt it was “too controversial.” Leave it to Las Vegas to roll the dice and come out a big winner.