Placement Will Be Key

   

    A few days ago, nearly an entire side of the Chase Tower in downtown Detroit was adorned with a sign.   But before you are impressed by the fact that a tower can be so prodigiously draped, it should be noted that the Chase Tower is one of the shortest buildings in the vicinity and is surrounded by much larger mere buildings.  Although it was built in 1959 it only gained "tower" status when Chase Bank took it over five years ago. Nothing about it says "tower". Chase Chunk would have been apter, but try telling a bank anything and you'll be reminded there is a whole 'nother view out there. 

    It is not the size of the sign that is so remarkable though, but rather the announcement on the sign.  It states that the recently relocated Quicken Loans is welcoming "2,000 More Thinkers to 'the D'".  In what is no doubt one of the greatest, and most baffling, displays of largesse the city has ever seen; Quicken Loans has apparently arranged for the casting of a great number of Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture for placement around the city.  Of course, for nigh on ninety years Detroit has had just one Thinker, sitting outside the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Now, apparently, we will be getting 2,000 more.  Granted, this is a generous gift, though it is a bit strange for them to opt for such a large number of the same statue, even if it is by one of history's most esteemed sculptors.  Certainly we could have used, say, a few more Clement Kerns outside his jail cell, an appropriately-sized Abraham Lincoln, another Fist to complete the set, some more Spirit of Detroits so at least one of them didn't have to wear a sports jersey at any given time, Hazen Pingree sitting in maybe something by Arne Jacobsen, and, although The Thinker is supposed to be Dante, a few more Dantes like the one on Belle Isle would have been nice.  Oh well, 2,000 Thinkers it is.  But where to put them? A few suggestions:

    Certainly The Plaza of Wishful Thinking is the obvious choice for one, if not several, Thinkers.

    The main library offers a perfect opportunity for a Thinker vs. Thinker Think-off.  The Thinker thinking about The Thinker.  It's mind-blowing.

    This would be a perfect opportunity for Mike Ilitch to finally offer the city something more than gigantic plastic tigers and gigantic, revolving hockey pucks.  It would harken back to the times when the 1%ers of our country actually gave something of substance back to society.

    Speaking of which:

    The Thinker could stand for that.  Well, sit anyway.