Section 3 of the High Line might not be opened or shined up, but High Line Art has commissioned (temporary) art on it. New York-based artist Carol Bove’s public art installation, “Caterpillar,” debuted among the weeds of the last section of the High Line in mid-May, and is coming down in May of 2014. Since then, the High Line has been hosting walking tours through Section 3 to allow visitors an exclusive glimpse at Bove’s artwork. Spaces in the tours were snatched up quickly; reservations for tours through September have been completely filled.
Good news is that you can get tickets for October and November starting on Wednesday, August 28th at 4 PM via the High Line’s website. The tours, which run on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, are completely free. This will be one of the last times to glimpse the wilderness that’s currently the last section of the High Line, last traces of graffiti and all before it’s turned into a park.
“Catepillar” is composed of site-specific seven sculptures designed with the uniqueness of the locations and wild state of the Rail Yards in mind. Dispersed throughout the wild 300-yard stretch of the Rail Yard, the art takes the form of coiled, moving insects, but might also evoke the ruins of a long-gone futuristic civilization or a “contemporary Zen garden.”
If modernist sculpture isn’t really your thing, maybe the urban explorer in you will appreciate the tour anyway. The views from Section 3 are, as expected, unbelievable. And the waiver that participants are to to sign, to account for the dangers of walking on an old railway, adds an unbelievable sense of adventure.