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The Electric EAT

This work pays homage to roadside signs remembered from the artist’s youth. Asked to contribute to the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Robert Indiana installed an early version of The Electric EAT on the exterior of a building. Briefly twinkling over fairgoers, the work was turned off after only a day in use following complaints from people mistaking it for a restaurant sign. Positioned across from the Coffee Bar at Eleven, this installation nods to the original, allowing it to live as both a functional sign and work of art.

ArtistRobert Indiana(1928-2018)
Date1964/2007
MediumPolychrome aluminum, stainless steel, and light bulbs
Dimensions78 x 78 x 7 in. (198.1 x 198.1 x 17.8 cm)
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2015.17
ClassificationSculpture
Provenanceto Morgan Art Foundation; to Shearbrook (US), New York, NY; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2015
On ViewYes
The Electric EAT78 × 78 in.Standard/Movie Poster40 × 27 in.

This artwork's face covers about 5.6× the area of a standard movie poster.Drawn to the same scale.