Today, as I wandered around Jamaica Pond, I noticed that Matthew Hincman's bench sculpture has returned. It even has a new, fancy concrete base so I assume that it is now permanent.
Of course, everyone is a critic, and as I took this picture an older gentleman told me he "doesn't like it" because "you can't sit on it. What's it for?" When I asked if he could appreciate it as a work of art, he said "It's no Monument, that's for sure." Presumably he referred to the granite monument to the Civil War veterans that sits at the fork of Centre and South Streets, a J.P. landmark.
While one passerby may have had his criticism, many others appeared to be enjoying the piece very much, in numerous ways. I waited nearly five minutes to take this shot, as a family of kids played in the piece, a dog walker stopped to read the text on the base, and two teenagers tried to lure a duck into the sculpture with part of a sandwich.
Like I said, everyone's a critic.
