New Yorkers rise up over pink phallic sculpture that 'squirts' from its top
The 'Foot Fountain (pink)' has a flesh-colored foot at its base and features several tongue-protruding adornments.
It is topped by a sprinkler that spouts water when passersby pedal on a nearby machine.
It is slated to grace Manhattan's High Line Park through May 2026 - but viewers have so far reacted with a mix of shock and disgust.
'This is disturbing,' one person responded to an Instagram post by the park promoting the piece.
'Is this a joke?' another asked.
'Um. That doesn't look like a foot,' a third chimed in.
'I'm thinking the "foot" part of this installation was a last-minute creative decision,' another joked.
One user commented on X: 'They knew what they were doing with this...
'It mimics a penis with warts, shooting semen out the top... they added the foot because well ya know can't legit have it only be a giant pink d*ck.
'Imagine the children's thoughts passing on by.'
Another simply said: 'Oh it's a squirting c*ck statue.'
The artist behind the piece, Mika Rottenberg, has described her work as 'an overindulgent creature from my drawings.'
'It first appeared as a small sculpture while I was doing some craft work with my daughter during the pandemic,' she said in a statement on the High Line's website.
The Argentine-born artist explained that the piece was originally conceived for a museum in Switzerland to work as irrigation fountain to water flowers.
'Here on the High Line, instead of nurturing the well-tended gardens, I thought it should nurture and cool passersby on hot days, and share some of its overenthusiastic spirit!' she said.
The works of Rottenberg, who was born in Buenos Aires and lives in Manhattan, have been featured at museums and galleries around the world.
This isn't the first time the High Line has featured unique art.
Last summer it debuted a 16ft pigeon in the same place where Rottenberg's sculpture now stands.
The pigeon was meant to challenge the grandeur of traditional monuments that celebrate significant historical figures in the city.
The name and size of the bird was also meant to poke fun at the 'the typical power dynamic between bird and human' as it towered over pedestrians and drivers.
In his sculpture description, Ivan Argote explained that the pigeon represents the city's evolution and confronts its viewers with the constantly changing relationship with the natural world and its inhabitants.
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