It's official. Airline passengers may proceed to walk over images of bounding nude men to get to their flights.
The brown paper that has intermittently covered the controversial figures since they were etched in June as part of a $657 million renovation project by American Airlines at its Los Angeles International Airport terminal will no longer be necessary, the LA Cultural Affairs Commission said.
The images of the males, whose genitals are completely obscured, were sandblasted into the dark granite terminal floor at the world's No. 3 airport after being approved by the airline and then by the commission two years ago.
The design, titled "The Wonders of the Heavens and Flying," also includes images of clouds and planets as well as a large window that flashes coloured beams of sunlight around the terminal.
Los Angeles artist Susan Narduli, who specialises in designing public spaces in the city, created the images of the buff men on commission from American Airlines, the world's No. 1 airline, to symbolise man's earliest attempts at "flying."
She said the project was inspired by research that showed that from earliest times men would find the highest spots in their communities, strap on wings or other devices, and jump in an attempt to fly - an act she called "quite heroic."
But when the redesign was unveiled, airport employees complained to management that the life-size images of naked men could offend passengers, sparking a controversy during which the artwork was intermittently covered up until city officials could re-evaluate their previous approval of the design.
"I think the commission went through the process of approving this public art (once)... The spirit and the scope of what resulted from this review is what we see now at American Airlines. We do not want to continue to reassess it," Cultural Affairs Commission President Lee Ramer said.
A spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports, the authority that runs the airport, said it will respect the city's decision.
Narduli said she was "delighted" by the decision.
"It is the nature of art to make people think and in some ways be somewhat provocative. That was not my intention. I don't find it offensive. And quite honestly, I haven't personally heard of anybody that has found it offensive," she said.
© Reuters
