Claes Oldenburg's 'Placid Civic Monument'

View of Claes Oldenburg's 'Placid Civic Monument' (perhaps better known as 'The Hole') in Central Park, New York, New York, October 1, 1967. The piece, one the earliest examples of so-called earthworks sculpture, was a six by six by three foot ditch (conceived as a kind of negative-space sculpture) excavated as part of an exhibit entitled 'Sculpture in Environment,' for which a number of different artists were asked to create public art in various locations (of their choosing) around New York City; in this case, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, near the Obelisk. Oldenburg hired two off-duty gravediggers, for $50 each, who dug the hole while he filmed--a few hours later, the hole was was re-filled. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/The New York Historical via Getty Images)