This year, the Met's Roof Garden Commission — traditionally one of the museum's most popular exhibitions and a sure harbinger of spring — has arrived right on time, and in delightful fashion.

"As Long As the Sun Lasts," is a 20-foot kinetic sculpture created by Alex Da Corte for the museum's rooftop space. A Philadelphia-based artist known for his bold use of color and fondness for sticking pop-culture icons into unexpected settings — the piece features Sesame Street's Big Bird, making perhaps his most grand appearance at this august institution. In this iteration, Big Bird is swinging on a crescent moon, gazing wistfully into the sky above, ridiculously ineffective ladder in hand, longing to climb higher still.

The first thing you notice, of course, is that Da Corte's Big Bird is blue, a nod to the Brazilian version of the character, known as Garibaldo, that he watched as a kid in Venezuela, and also to the 1986 movie Follow That Bird, at one point during which our hero gets painted blue by some dastardly carnies. The detail in Da Corte's design is extraordinary, from the wispy top feathers to the 7,000 individually placed aluminum blue feathers covering the creature.

But this is not some wacky cartoon. In fact, Da Corte's bird appears almost melancholy, as if he's wanting to escape — his home, his world, his day-to-day life — but is unable to get far enough away. It's an extremely relatable feeling, especially during this past pandemic year. But there is some hope! The name of the piece is taken from a whimsical story by Italo Calvino, which the Met's notes tell us is all about the potential of new explorations.

Big Bird and his moon are counterbalanced on the red, weighty base by five very Alexander Calder-looking metal discs, an appropriate homage given that Da Corte's sculpture also operates as a mobile, with Big Bird swinging and the whole apparatus rotating in the rooftop breezes. It's truly a gratifying sight, set off against the background of Central Park's green canopy, the stately prewars on Central Park West, and the supertalls down on 57th Street.

Alex Da Corte's "As Long As the Sun Lasts" will be on view at the Met Roof Garden starting today and running through October 31st.