Art for the White House

At a dinner party last night after the Gary Simmons lecture (great!) at the Hirshhorn, our host Henry T asked each of us to suggest a work of contemporary art for the White House to acquire. (A person who works for the office charged with buying art for the White House was there to hear our suggestions!) My suggestion was the piece pictured above called "Leverage" by Pedro Reyes that I saw in New Orleans when I went down there last fall for the Prospect.1 biennial. I thought it would be appropriate art for the White House because it takes a community to make the piece work: one person on one end and nine on the other end. If even one person is missing, the whole thing is off balance.