Sculptor Claes Oldenburg‘s Clothespin was installed across from City Hall in downtown Philadelphia in 1976. It was commissioned as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s Percent for Art program.

Two details about the 45-foot, 10-ton Cor-Ten steel sculpture may have you looking at it a bit differently. The first is it’s spring, which is meant to resemble the number 76, a reference to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. The other is that Oldenburg was influenced by Constantin Brâncuși‘s The Kiss when creating this work. The Kiss is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

For more information about the sculpture and its history, this article on The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, is worth checking out.