Golem (Niki de Saint Phalle)
The golem , colloquially called monster or mifletzet ( Hebrew for “monster”), is a monumental sculpture on a playground in West Jerusalem . The sculpture was built in 1971–1972 by the sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle .
Structure and history
The monster is located in the Rabinovitz public park in the Kiryat Yovel district. It consists of an oversized head with three red tongues that serve as slides and can be reached via a staircase. Niki de Saint Phalle received the order to erect the sculpture from the then Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek , who had to prevail against the resistance of worried parents and the municipal park commission. When the commission rejected the project, the mayor asked it to repeat the vote. In a 1988 interview with the Los Angeles Times , Niki de Saint Phalle said she was campaigning for a frightening sculpture to be erected in a safe place so that children can overcome their fears. Niki's husband Jean Tinguely provided technical assistance with the construction work , supported by Rico Weber and Paul Wiedmer . The group as a whole was jokingly called All Stars Swiss Team by Niki and later also participated in the establishment of the Garden of the Tarock in Tuscany .
More than 3,000 signatures were submitted to the city administration in 2014 against a plan to extend the Jerusalem light rail system , which should have killed several dozen trees and the golem.
gallery
The golem, taken from behind
Ascent to the slides
Web links
- A Monster in Belgium - The Dragon of Knokke Niki de Saint Phalle
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Mifletzet Atlas Obscura
- ↑ Jerusalemites fear for the Monster Slide park, The Times of Israel , February 20, 2014
Coordinates: 31 ° 45 ′ 40 ″ N , 35 ° 10 ′ 17 ″ E