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ASBURY PARK, NJ (AP) – It has been described as beautiful, grand and brilliant, a transcendent work of art that reinterprets the vacation experience with local touches of the Jersey Shore.
It has also been referred to as ridiculous, ugly, and loathsome, something like a stack of Amazon shipping boxes or a giant cat scratching post.
Good grief!
A freshly cut natural Christmas tree usually adorns the Grand Arcade in Convention Hall on Asbury Park’s historic promenade.
But this year it will be replaced by tree-shaped cardboard art that also incorporates elements of the coast, the city’s architecture and its rich musical heritage, most notably Bruce Springsteen. It is designed so that once it is broken down it can be recycled.
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“I like that it’s different,” said Chris Trifari of neighboring Neptune as he walked past the tree. “It’s pretty interesting.”
“I think it’s very creative,” said Elizabeth Khimitch from Asbury Park, who brought her two dogs to have them photographed before the show. “It fits the Asbury vibe, which is different and unusual.”
Others weren’t so grateful.
“It looks like an Amazon package,” said Anthony Solimando, a former resident of nearby Neptune City who recently moved to Hoboken.
“Not a fan,” added Amy Mackey, who lives near Asbury Park. “Asbury has adapted to this art city, but tradition is tradition! This is art and I wouldn’t take my child’s picture in front of that tree. Can’t we just have our traditional tree? “
“No lights?” said Zuzanna Humeniuk from Wall. “It’s creative, but not at all festive.”
The change came that year when the city’s art scene turned to Madison Marquette, the private owner and manager of Asbury Park Promenade, to create a Christmas tree sculpture for the Convention Hall, according to Austin Leopold, the promenade property manager.
“Because the promenade is a focal point for Asbury Park’s thriving art and music scene and we have a longstanding and very close relationship with well-known local artists, we passionately turned to the idea when we came up with the concept for the sculpture.” said Leopold.
Michael Lavallee, a local artist who goes by the name of Porkchop and whose work has been exhibited in the US and Europe, created the piece with Brad Hoffer. They call it “The Giving Tree”.
He said the company told him there won’t be a natural Christmas tree in the convention hall this year.
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“I was asked to come in and do something festive,” said Porkchop, who studied in Virginia and Philadelphia. “It wasn’t my intention to take someone’s Christmas tree away. If you don’t give people the big tree they want, some of them will hate it. I understand that. But they wouldn’t get the traditional Christmas tree anyway. “
The piece uses natural and artificial light to cast shadows on parts of the tree while illuminating others so its appearance changes as the day progresses.
Amy Quinn, the deputy mayor of Asbury Park, said the city was not involved in the exhibition at the convention hall but considered itself a fan. She notes that the city will hold traditional outdoor tree lighting in a park on Friday.
“I love the recording that the local artists had on the tree,” she said. “I love that it’s different. Love it or hate it, people talk about it. “
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