By Peter Szekely

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A tall, imposing statue of a woman standing on top with her index fingers pressing down her lips faces Lower Manhattan and the Hudson River (NYSE:) River. This invites chaos-ridden metropolis to stop for a moment and listen.

Jaume Plensa from Barcelona said, “The water when it is moving makes a special sound. Very special.”

Plensa’s 80-foot-tall (24-meter-long) “Water’s Soul”, Plensa’s largest work, is a message: “To keep silent…to listen to the profound sound of the water speaking to us,” he stated in an interview.

This snow-white head offers a panoramic view over the river and is located in front of Jersey City’s fast-developing Newport waterfront. It’s located just across Greenwich Village. The Statue of Liberty is about 4 miles (six kilometers) further upstream.

Plensa, who had just seen the completed piece, heard the overhead drone of helicopters, the sound of diesel engines, the buzz of Hoboken’s train terminal and the sounds of the children walking along river walkways.

However, these are not the sounds Plensa believes his artwork is aiming at.

He said, “I’m speaking about the noise and information to us,” at New York’s Galerie Lelong Co. An exhibit of his new work will be open there on October 29.

Plensa (66), was asked to make the piece by LaFrak, Simon Property Group (NYSE) and Simon Property Group, which developed the area including the plot that juts into the river, where “Water’s Soul”.

This image shows a model that was created from fiberglass, polyester resin and marble dust. It was shipped to Jersey City in 23 containers each measuring 40ft (12m) long.

LOCALS INTRIGUED

It will be unveiled at noon on Thursday. Some locals have been watching the sculpture since August and are still baffled.

“Why does she shush?” Cleveland Rice, aged 63, was a city worker.

William Schoentube (53) a New Jersey Transit train conductor said that “I am sure it has to have some meaning behind it.”

Huan Yan (31), a software engineer, said that it was telling New York City not to tell the truth about this location because they don’t want more people moving to New York City.

Miriam (46), a travel agent, is able to see it directly from her apartment windows. It was voted down by her. She stated, “I don’t think it fits in the overall environment.”

Plensa who has been exhibiting his work for 40+ years around the world, stated that his art can sometimes take some time to get accepted by different cultures.

He said, “In the public place, the piece of art is the main object and it competes with many other objects.”

Crown Fountain, Chicago’s Millennium Park is one of his works. It displays moving LED faces on glass towers measuring 50 feet (15 meters) tall with water cascading from their mouths. It opened in 2004, to mixed reviews, but has become an extremely popular spot.

MANHATTAN – NOT A MESSAGE

Plensa claimed that the sculpture does not send a message or a request to Manhattan. She is silently requesting quiet.

As with many Plensa’s pieces, the “Water’s Soul”, a long-necked head of a woman wearing closed eyes, is a representation of Plensa’s work.

“In many of the pieces that I make, I ask viewers to look within themselves. There is an extraordinary amount of beauty in you,” he stated.

Because he regards women as the main focus of his work, he states that he considers them to be an “accident” and “a very nice, but accidental, accident.”

He stated that the best way to see “Water’s soul” is from the river.

“It’s an art piece which pays tribute to water and you can appreciate it more,” he stated.