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This Misshapen VW Bus Is Bringing Free Hot Dogs & Guilt To Brooklyn Bridge Park
By
Madeleine Crenshaw
Published Jun 13, 2018
Modified Jun 14, 2018
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Liz Lagon/Public Art Fund
By
Madeleine Crenshaw
Published Jun 13, 2018
Modified Jun 14, 2018
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A Volkswagen Bus that vaguely resembles the shape of a lumpy hot dog will be giving out free frankfurters every weekend in Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer. And in addition to offering your body sustenance, it will also be offering your mind a dollop of delicious guilt.
No, this isn’t a stunt from Nathan’s Famous, Oscar Mayer or even "Natten's Famous", but the doings of an Austrian artist named Erwin Wurm. In a partnership with the Public Art Fund, Wurm has transformed a Volkswagen Microbus into a chubby yellow van aimed at giving food for thought.
The Public Art Fund explains the philosophical meaning behind the hot dog giveaway:
This modified, vintage Volkswagen Microbus has been transformed into a bright yellow, overstuffed food truck from which free hot dogs will be served to visitors all summer, hinting at the gastronomic connections between the City’s most iconic street food and the artist’s Austrian homeland.
The bus’ bloated form will encourage audiences to reconsider the relationship between capitalism and consumption in today’s culture, while the act of eating, according to Wurm, can be considered an additive sculptural process in its own right.
The bus was first exhibited as the Curry Bus in 2015 at the Museum of Wolfsburg in Germany, where it served currywurst, or traditional German fast food sausages. NYC's iconic hotdog carts have quite a history of their own, though at least none of their hot dogs are generally this yellow.
The Hot Dog Bus will be slinging all-beef kosher style dogs in Brooklyn Bridge Park around Pier 1 on Saturdays and Pier 5 on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m until Aug. 25th.
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