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The Cube
Professor emerita of art history Barbara Zabel discusses the kinetic sculpture
The iconic sculpture Alamo (15 x 15 x 15 feet), created in 1967 by Bernard (Tony) Rosenthal (1914-2009), is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Astor Place in New York City. Located in the East Village, Alamo became a focus for demonstrations, graffiti artists and pranksters. In 1972, Rosenthal's Memorial Cube, a half-scale "offspring" of Alamo, was installed on the terrace of Cummings Arts Center, a gift of friends and family of Dena Laib Ulin '52, a gallerist in New York City who died in 1972. Like Alamo, Memorial Cube is a kinetic sculpture; if pushed, it can spin around its axis. The sculpture invites playful interaction, one of its delights.