One of Kansas City’s more unusual and controversial permanent art exhibits can be found on the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. “Shuttlecocks,” a set of four giant replicas of badminton shuttlecocks placed on the north and south lawns outside of the museum building, is the creation of Claes Oldenburg and his late wife Coosje van Bruggen. The shuttlecocks are made of aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastic and they’re painted with polyurethane enamel. They’re nearly 18 feet high and 15 feet in diameter. Each one weighs about 5500 pounds. With the lawns representing the badminton court and the building representing the net, the shuttlecocks were set across the greater landscape in relative positions that conceptually unify the rather expansive grounds of the entire property. The project was commissioned in 1992; the sculptures were installed and dedicated in June 1994. As one might imagine, the reception in KC to “Shuttlecocks” was very mixed, to say the least ! This image shows two of the shuttlecocks located on the south lawn of the museum grounds. Also see my image of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ which is visible here near the steps of the museum building.