In Manhattan, a new installation is leaving visitors puzzled. At first glance, the sculpture appears to be a large pink leg, severed at the knee, embedded in concrete, featuring an enormous foot with red-painted toenails and dozens of tongues protruding from the thigh.
Called Foot Fountain, it’s the latest provocative installation by Argentine artist Mika Rottenberg. Standing over ten feet tall, it has emerged in recent weeks from the heart of the old elevated railway line, now transformed into a pedestrian walkway, The High Line Park. Foot Fountain will remain on display until May 2026.
But what makes the piece even more bizarre is its interactive mechanism: passersby can pedal a nearby device that causes the sculpture to “spray” water from the top. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand the reactions it provokes: many amused and bewildered tourists stop to film the scene, laughing and reacting with curiosity.
Rottenberg explained that the original idea was far from provocative: the leg-fountain was conceived as a poetic system to water the park’s plants. Over time, however, she realized that the piece could serve another purpose, to cool off visitors during New York’s hottest summer days. As temperatures continue to rise, this aspect of the sculpture is certainly useful but remains ambiguous, straddling the line between playfulness, surrealism, and innuendo.
The visual impact is hard to ignore. More than a few people have shown signs of embarrassment, and social media users have joked about the sculpture’s suggestive undertones. Still, it’s not the first time the artist has played with grotesque bodies and the absurd to explore social and cultural themes.
It’s no coincidence that Rottenberg is considered one of the most prominent voices in contemporary international art. Her works are exhibited in major museums worldwide, from MoMA to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and often explore the boundaries between desire and disgust.
In the case of Foot Fountain, the experiment seems to work. It catches the eye, provokes a reaction, and, most of all, transforms a public space into an urban stage. While water continues to spray from the monumental leg, passersby, between snapshots and pedal pushes, are still left wondering.
