Snapshot of the Day: The Muhammad Ali Monument
by Anton Tabuena on Mar 2, 2011 6:54 AM EST
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What you see here, is a Muhammad Ali monument made by artist Michael Kalish. It is 22 feet high, and is made out of 1,300 punching bags, 6.5 miles of stainless steel cable, and 2,500 pounds of aluminum pipe. Wired Magazine describes it best:
As you walk around the sculpture, you’ll just see interesting hanging bags. Step directly in front, however, and pow! Ali’s visage hits you like a punch in the face.
It will be unveiled at the Nokia Plaza in LA this month with Muhammad Ali himself hanging the final bag. More photos of the monument after the jump.
HT: Bad Left Hook
Photos by Dwayne Oyler
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That’s really awesome. Just goes to show that a great athlete who can relate to the media and the public and who shows individuality and opinion on various issues CAN transcend a sport. Ali is the kind of person who, in the impact that he has had historically, refutes the “Who cares about sports?” position taken by so many ‘serious’ commentators on politics, social issues, economics, and so on.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Just the other day, I was debating with my friend, who is a huge professional wrestling fan, and we debating about The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) vs Ali. He felt that The Rock would be bigger than Ali, and he cited that more eyeballs got to witness The Rock’s work more than Ali’s. I see something like this monument and the fact that he was the final man to run the Olympic Torch a while back, and I can’t help but feel that The Rock will never even get close to how Ali transcended boxing and became such an icon to society in general.
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Ali was involved in some of the most controversial moments in history, and not just in terms of sports history. His stance against Viet Nam that sent him to jail for some of his athletic peak, his identification – and later break – with the Nation of Islam during a time of high racial tensions, his conflicted relationships with major historical figures like Malcom X; sorry, almost no athlete can touch things like that. Think about things like “rope-a-dope”, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”: transcultural and transnational phrases that would not exist without Ali. He was a superb talent wedded to a singularly electric personality during a time of massive upheaval, a man who people wanted to watch fight who knew how to make the media listen to what he had to say when he wasn’t in the ring. There are very very few sports stars or athletes who can make the lasting cultural, social and political impact that Ali did. As for Dwayne Johnson, man, I like the guy… but it’s not even a comparison.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Mar 2, 2011 1:03 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks for the insight
My friend doesn’t know a lot about boxing or Ali in general, so he didn’t know what other things that he did outside of boxing. Because of that, I don’t think that he could truly grasp the impact that Ali had on society, and I feel that he only thinks of Ali as a famous boxer. He sees Dwayne Johnson going from his role in professional wrestling to making movies in Hollywood and just by his huge popularity from professional wrestling, and he feels that he has transcended his sport and will be an icon. I see it as Dwayne Johnson being someone famous vs Ali who was and still is a cultural icon. I mean, we still see movies, documentaries, monuments and whatnot of Ali, and as much as I like “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, I just can’t see that happening with him down the line.
Check out the C&D Channel on YouTube for MMA reviews, predictions, analysis, and other MMA related content.
Wow, that's gnarly.
Not to be nitpicky, but those are all speed bags (a specific kind of punching bag).
You can read my work over @ http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
Not to be nitpicky, but a specific kind of punching bag is still a punching bag ; ) and yea thats way cool !
Well
I just said it because when you say punching bag, people generally think of the classic heavy bag. Just a slight semantic detail.
You can read my work over @ http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Mar 2, 2011 8:11 AM EST up reply actions
Yup.
I was thinking the exact same thing when I read it at first… I just went with what the artist and the writer called them when describing the piece :)
by Anton Tabuena on Mar 2, 2011 9:48 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Fair enough my man
You can read my work over @ http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Mar 2, 2011 10:30 AM EST up reply actions
that is what i was thinking also.
I thought there is no way they used 1300 punching bags for this .
Hell yeah!
give them their due while they can still enjoy it!
I doubt if any athlete today could ever reach the level Ali existed at. When he fought, THE WHOLE WORLD stopped to watch.
Another thing I loved about Ali, after the fight, he never went in search of anyone. He never stood around waiting while some interviewer decided the time was right. Ali would go congratulate the opponent, towel himself off and when he felt it was time to speak, only then would he allow the interview to proceed.
Truly the greatest.
one last thing, some poster last week chastised Ali because of how he once brutally beat an opponent, all the time asking the fool “What’s my name?”
The poster I believe intended the example to slant Ali, casting him as classless or a buly. That was not the truth. I forget the opponent, but I do remember that it was shortly after Ali changed his name and many people. memners of the press and other fighters refused to give him that respect, continually referring to him as Cassius. So when Ali got the chance to exact his revenge, he beat the shit of the dude, reminding him that his name was not Cassius, it was Ali.
Muhammad Ali.
"I hate these quotes: Rise And Shine or Rise And Grind....just rise and shut the fuck up" -Phil Baroni
Dave Zirin talks about that episode in detail in his book “What my Name?”, the title taken from the same incident. Sports fans should read it.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Mar 2, 2011 8:34 AM EST up reply actions
“Kunta Kinte”
You can read my work over @ http://www.headkicklegend.com/
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Mar 2, 2011 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
Ernie Terrell rufused to call him by his new name Muhammad Ali
“Cassius Clay” was considered a slave name, given by the white folk to his family in the days of slavery.
Terrell refused to call him Ali, and in the lead up called him nothing but Clay
if you ask me, Terrell deserved the ass whooping. His actions were much more disrepectful than Ali’s.
I'm not insane. My mother had me tested.
this is a cool quote too from wiki about the incident
Ali said he was not unduly cruel to Terrell- that boxers are paid to punch all their opponents into submission or defeat. He pointed out that if he had not hit and hurt Terrell, Terrell would have hit and hurt him, which is standard practice.
I'm not insane. My mother had me tested.
awesomly awesome.
arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics... even if you win, you're still retarded!
made me think of this
The awesome statue in Bosnia of all places (amazing) of Bruce Lee, chosen by the young people of Mostar; as a figure of unity.
'if you don't have humility as a fighter, fighting will bring humility to you...'
that maybe so
but does it have the same resonance in terms of its story?
'if you don't have humility as a fighter, fighting will bring humility to you...'
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