More than a Message in this Bottle

I first shared this picture with you last Thursday, taken on my walk home from the Architectural Digest Show.  It became our Photo of the Day, entitled “Simply Intoxicating”, because that accurately described the entire day.

Although I’ve lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for over thirty years, I have just recently begun to walk the Hudson riverfront daily, as part of a New Year’s resolution to get fit and had never even taken notice of the giant work of art before.  I was so intrigued that I walked around the mammoth bottle and peered into its many port holes. What I saw delighted me so, I had to share it with you.

I had no idea when the giant bottle had “washed up” on the shores of the Hudson, so I did a little research.  I discovered, thanks to an article by Albert Amateau in the Villager, and another in The Weblicist of Manhattan, that the oversized wine bottle, entitled “Private Passage”, was designed and created by Malcolm Cochran, a renowned artist and professor at OSU.  It had been placed in that area of the Hudson River Park, entitled Clinton Cove in May of 2005.

And while the exterior was quite a surprise, the interior of “Private Passage” was even more astounding.  Who would have imagined that the familiar message inside this oversized wine bottle was: “Great Design is Timeless” and how perfect to have stumbled upon this stainless steel recreation of a stateroom loosely based upon photographs of the ocean liner R.M.S. Queen Mary, on my way home from the AD Show. It was serendipitous!

Of course, knowing this, I had to look for some photos from the R.M.S. Queen Mary and discovered these photos on The Queen Mary Deck by Deck as well as ssmaritime.com.

The Art Deco inspired interiors and commissioned art installations for this “Grand Dame” of the sea were amazing.  What began as a walk home from the Architectural Digest Show and an interest in an outdoor art installation quickly became a journey back in time. While Irwin and I marveled at many of the photos on the websites, my interest in the interior designers for the ship piqued and I began to look for additional information.  While it is noted on wapedia, that much of the interior of this majestic ship was designed byThe Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts, I was not able to find more definitive information so… that voyage continues.