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New York life-size statues mistaken for suicide people

16 April 2010 [15:22] - TODAY.AZ
A collection of life-size statues on buildings has caused confusion in New York after they were mistaken for real people about to commit suicide.
One of the life-size statues of Antony Gormley's art exhibition in New York.

The 27 naked men, all anatomically correct, have been bolted to rooftops and ledges as part of installation Event Horizon.

But concerned locals have been calling 911 because they believed the statues, by British artist Antony Gormley, are real people on the verge of jumping off the buildings.

A police source told the New York Post the statues are leading to an increase in emergency calls and taking officers away from real emergencies.

"It's a pain in the ass," said one officer of the art project, which was also installed in London in 2007.

"It's a waste of manpower. We're short [of] cops to begin with and we don't have enough cops to waste answering calls of statues committing suicide."

But a spokesman for the New York Police Department said they had only received ten 911 calls about Event Horizon.

Mr Gormley said his aim was for people to examine man's place in the world by putting the sculptures in odd places.

"This is a copy of my body. But it's ten times the specific gravity. It's very solidly there," he said.

"Up there, there's another, it's 60 storeys up and you can't touch it, you can perceive it. And there are more to be found, encouraging curiosity. That's what this is all about."

The statues are to remain in place until August 15.


/Sky News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/interesting/66231.html

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