I see where Christo is going to hang miles of safran colored drapery through the paths in Central Park. Looks like it is going to be beautiful, but is it costing him over $1 million dollars per mile x 23 miles! He is paying for it himself, plus he is donating $3 million dollars to the NYC parks department.
How does this art pay?
I know when he “packed” the Reichstag in Berlin, later they sold little scraps of fabric for a few coins. But even if he sold every piece of drapery, $25 million is going to be a hell of a lot of scraps at a hefty price.
Am I missing some factor in the financial viablity of such ventures?
Very interesting. The Met was selling posters of the “The Gates”, and I assumed they were fundraising. But no. I just checked their site: “Proceeds from the sale of this poster will benefit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Nurture New York’s Nature.”
Seems like a lost opportunity there. Posters are a poor man’s prints, not “selling out”.
“They do not accept money for posters…” I wonder if they accept money for the rights to accept money for posters. Merchandising rights could be considered preprartory work, right?