New York, NY, Las Vegas, NV
The New York - New York Hotel and Casino opened in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996, bringing a sanitized, compressed version of Manhattan to the desert. Although the recreation is understandably limited in scope and scale, the attempt is impressive: dozens of landmarks are reproduced including the Brooklyn Bridge, Grant’s Tomb, Grand Central Station, and the Guggenheim and Whitney museums. The casino’s version of the Statue of Liberty is 1/2 scale, its Empire State Building is 1/3 scale.
While the real New York, with its new“family friendly” appearance and profusion of billboards, is starting to resemble Las Vegas, the Las Vegas version tries to combine the best of the big city—landmarks, ethnic neighborhoods, nightlife, food and shopping — with the best of Nevada: “gaming.”
New York is not the only city in town, now that Paris and Venice casinos have been added, and there are references to many other locales such as ancient Egypt and Rome, medieval europe, and the rainforest. But New York-New York creates the silhouette that is most confusing from afar, giving Las Vegas the first skyline with sections of another city’s skyline in it.
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher 1996
These works are chromogenic prints in metal frames.
Framed: 88.2 x 76.2cm (30" x 34.75").
Editions of 5.