I cycle through Central Park eight times a week, and for the past month I’ve been subjected to the setup for Christo’s latest project, The Gates.
This is essentially a plan to set up thousands of posts with flags hanging down, going over just about every footpath in the Park.
For the past month there have been these little black boxes everywhere, each with a hole in the middle, a label of A, B or C, and two orange plastic tabs so they can find them if it snows.
This week they’ve kicked into overdrive and started putting up the posts, since the official opening is this Saturday, Feb. 12. Little workers in grey vests are wandering around setting up narrow soccer goal posts.
And the things are hideous. They look like giant croquet gates painted pumpkin orange. They just keep going up and spreading, like the prelude to an attempt to get into the Guinness book of records for setting up dominoes. Granted, the flags aren’t blowing in the wind yet, so they might look better this weekend, but right now it seems like a prime example of what not to do with a few million dollars.
The dumbass boyfriend of my best girlfriend in NY is helping set this up (he’s getting paid $225 per day!) and I have seen pictures of what it is going to look like when it is finished.
I think it will be very cool to walk through and the visual will also be something to behold from afar. Christo has done some amazing things in the past, and every time the locals say it is going to suck, and every time it is time to take down the presentation, people are sad to see it go and wish it could stay there permanently.
So don’t be too quick in your judgement just yet…you might be pleasantly surprised when it is finished.
At least it won’t be the train wreck (read: a backfiring publicity stunt) that occured when Christo* & his wife encircled a tropical island with fabric and put the local fish at risk.
*You know, I can’t think of one person with a single name who I like - including Madonna & Cher
There are a LOT of people in New York with orange articles of clothing. A hell of a lot.
I swung through the park yesterday morning, and it was as crowded as the first sunny day in spring, everyone agog over orange sheets hanging from orange gates. It does look much better with the flags unfurled, and there is definitely a nice sense of scale to the installation-- but that sense of scale is embodied in Central Park to begin with. Putting up 7500 post and lintels is a reminder, but it’s nothing that special if you’re a regular visitor.
Souvenir hunters can buy maps, postcards, and t-shirts emblazoned with ‘The Gates by Christo and Jeanne-Claude’, all proceeds going to Central Park.
All in all, it’s not that spectacular. I’m waiting for a rainy day, so someone can drive their car through a couple gates while scantily-clad women armed with buckets of soap give it a good wash.
My first Christo was the Wrapped Sidewalks in Kansas City. When it was first announced, I had an attitude like Barbarian’s – basically, that it was a stupid idea. When I saw it, however, it was exquisitely beautiful and amazing in scope. I became a Christo fan forever. I also saw The Umbrellas in California (beautiful, breath-taking, amazing). The Gates will be my third Christo.
Note that I and four other people with me are travelling to NYC only because of the Christo. I’m sure we are not the only ones. If nothing else, The Gates are bringing in tourist money at a traditionally slow time.
Christo chose to erect The Gates at this time of year so that the saffron fabric would contrast with the dull winter colors of the park. His sketches are awsome.
Barbarian, you don’t say if you are an artist yourself, or an art scholor, or even an art lover or art appreciator. You sound like someone who’s not really into art, and I think you have pre-judged the Gates. I hope you’ll be able to appreciate the project once it’s up.
I just got back from walking across the park, and I gotta say, I’m impressed. I thought the gates were nice. I’m not really sure how best to descibe the effect of walking through them other than to say they made me a little bit happier. Which, for me, is a big test of whether or not a work of art is successful.
The color is striking against the barren winter landscape. And, aside from the large crowds, the installation had a calming effect on me. I actually felt that the gates had a vaguely oriental feel to them (a friend said he was expecting to walk out into a martial arts tournament).
The New York Times currently has quite a bit of coverage of The Gates. Check out the multimedia interactive feature “The Gates: An Appraisal”. It has some great visuals and a very nice commentary.
It is raining today, and I went through the park once again (I kinda have to, since I live on one side and work on the other). The wind and rain may have contributed to keeping the number of visitors low, since there weren’t many people in the park today.
Despite three days of repeated exposure (including two half-hour walks across the park with my wife yesterday), I don’t like The Gates much more than I did before. But I did find out that the grey-clad people holding sticks are there to unfurl the flags in case they get stuck
I’m a writer, so some would consider that art, but mostly I consider it a practiced craft
As for art, what actually gets me going gaga is sculpture, be it abstract sculpture or otherwise. I’m rather partial to Yayoi Kusama’s work, and really enjoyed her ‘Steel balls and white objects’ piece that occupied part of the Conservatory Water in Central Park for a short while last summer. If I had a spare quarter-million dollars, there’s a piece or two of hers that I’d be willing to exhibit in a public place.
Last time I was in the Netherlands, my wife had to drag me away from the sculpture garden at the Kroller-Muller museum, and they had to throw me out of the Rodin Museum in Paris too. For Xmas I received a fantastic book— Sculptor’s Drawings over six centuries.
But whenever I look at The Gates, I just feel underwhelmed. They don’t say anything to me except: Hey, we’re big and there’s a lot of us. Whether going under an arch, viewing them askance, or going somewhere lofty and getting dozens or hundreds in my field of view, the only impression they make on me is ‘stream of orange’, which isn’t really saying much, since any visitor to Central Park is already likely to think ‘stream of people’. It just feels somewhat trite and simple.
It’s nice to have crowds of people walking through the park in February, but that’s really not that much different than similar crowds of people walking through the park in spring, summer and fall-- they’re just wearing more clothes
Perhaps it’s because I am a regular user of the park, and I like the nooks, crannies and wee beasties and surprises hidden therein. If I want a quick dash across, fine, but if I want to explore, there’s lots to see and be surprised by (my new favourite is the bobcat along the drive near the Ramble-- just sitting on a rock watching cars and joggers). But The Gates, they don’t add anything for me, and seem too much like gilding the lily.
Went on Sunday to see them - cool, clear, sunny - perfect.
My wife, young son, friends and I all thought they were fun. It was a “happening,” where a large group of people were regarding art in a public space. Some views, where you could sight along multiple paths, were beautiful and other times the sun cast shadow between the gates.
All in all, the statement to me was - let the people gather and have a good time enjoying something nice. And that, to me, is more than okay. It was worth it and the artistic statement - investing huge time and money to get the public to interact with art pieces on a large scale - was fascinating and interesting.
