Angela Nikolau’s Empire State Building climb turned into a proposal — and a debate about where art ends and trespass begins
On July 1, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus climbed to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City, transforming a dangerous ascent into a public spectacle that quickly spread online. Once they reached the summit, Beerkus proposed, and a banner was unfurled with the line: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
Nikolau has long framed her work in artistic terms. On her website, she describes herself as a “neo-artist working with extreme performance, visual art and projects with global reach.” She has also said, “I create high-impact cultural moments, extreme performances and visual content that brands want to be part of.” Her climbing-related practice was the subject of the Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” and she has sold NFTs on SuperRare featuring images of her daredevil actions.
The climb gained added attention because Nikolau posted about it on Instagram as it unfolded. According to the New York Times, she was charged with burglary, a charge that includes unlawfully entering a building in New York City.
The episode inevitably invites comparison to Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. Petit, too, has described himself as an artist, and his feat became the subject of the 2008 documentary “Man on Wire.” In both cases, the city became a stage, and risk itself became part of the work.
What remains unclear is how to classify Nikolau’s practice: as performance art, as spectacle, or as a form of self-authored urban mythmaking. The answer may depend less on the climb than on the cultural frame built around it.
