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Let us be frank, we kind of love this new sculpture in Times Square: a 65-foot-long hot dog in a bun drenched in mustard that launches confetti in the air every day at noon. When it comes to outdoor art, this is by far the oddest sculpture we've seen around town in the last few months.
Called "Hot Dog in the City," the giant addition to the Times Square landscape comes courtesy of Brooklyn-based artists Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw, who were commissioned by Times Square Arts.
The work "paints a unique portrait of America," reads an official press release. Specifically, the duo of artists hopes the sculpture will entice folks to talk about "the patriarchy of meat-eating," what meat production in the U.S. entails, the politics of street vending, capitalism, immigration and more.
To drive the point home further, the debut of the hot dog will be accompanied by a slew of public programs from now through June 13, including a "hot dog wrestling match" (we're not sure what that means, but it sure sounds fun), debates about condiments, a very odd-sounding beauty pageant involving dogs and a qualifier for Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest among others. You can learn more about the roster of events right here.
In case you were wondering how the idea for such a unique art piece even came about, you should know that Catron and Outlaw's work has been dealing in similar matters for years now. According to the press release, the two once produced a dinner party on hydraulics, a fish fry truck that made its way around NYC and giant mechanized ice cream sundaes. The huge hot dog suddenly sounds so... on brand?
Every day at noon, hydraulics will propel the hot dog straight up and a built-in confetti canon will shoot the paper scraps up in the air. Woohoo!
You've got until June 13 to see the enormous wiener live, so get to Times Square ASAP.