Sum of the Arts

Inspired by the Harper’s Index, Sum of the Arts is a periodic tabulation of numbers floating around the art world and beyond.

• Decibel reading of sound recorded in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art, which was found to be the loudest of all of New York City’s top art museums = 77.1 (compared to 63.6 in the lobby of the Frick Collection)
• Years to restore an 11-foot-wide giant crab in the Rutgers Geology Museum gifted by Japan in the 1890s = 3
• Watts of electricity used by the Ralph camera as it photographed Pluto on board New Horizons = 7
• Number of weavers from around the world who recreated the lost “Hunt of the Unicorn” tapestries over 14 years for Stirling Castle in Scotland = 18
• Number of sites on the Unesco World Heritage “Danger List” after the recent addition of places in Iraq and Yemen = 48
• Millions of years ago that trilobites thrived in what’s now New York state = 252
• Number of bookends made from author Ray Bradbury’s Los Angeles house, which was demolished by architect Thom Mayne = 451
• Number of standard color chips created by Pantone since 1963 = 10,000
• Number of boxes needed to contain a full ancient Roman fresco excavated in Arles = 12,000
• Number of people that would be required to walk on piezoelectric pavement at London’s Battersea Power Station in order to power Tesla coils atop the chimneys in a proposed design by architect Bjarke Ingels = 50,000
• Number of combinations possible with the German Enigma coding machine, one of which was auctioned this month at Sotheby’s = 159,000,000,000,000

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