http://www.the-gates-at-central-park.com/
Posted on 02/12/2005 6:40:44 AM PST by billorites
for all of the money that this cost it is only going to be up for a short time...well all the better the thing is an eye sore!
Unless their surname is Lewinsky.
Where do THEY get the money? I mean, who pays these idiots to hang curtains on stuff?
They paid with their own money ( I suppose they raised it) But NYC did not pay them. But the city will have to pay for the extra cops on hand to make sure the gates aren't vandalized.
I live near them and just went over to take a look. Ho-hum. Maybe it was the media overkill that's causing my indifference.
You didn't answer my question.
It's hideous. All "under construction" orange. I thought at least there would be different colors. There should be signs all over saying "Please pardon our appearance."
I love it, I want to head up to Belvedere Castle and get an aerial view.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-The-Gates.html?hp
'The Gates' Colors Central Park in Saffron
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 12, 2005
Filed at 9:58 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- With flowing fabric the color of a sunrise, ``The Gates'' -- a massive public art installation -- was unfurled Saturday for the start of a 16-day stay transforming miles of footpaths in Central Park.
The project opened with Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropping the first piece of saffron-colored fabric to the cheers of a huge crowd. He was joined by exhibit creators Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
The crowd counted down the seconds before Bloomberg, a longtime backer of the project, opened the exhibition at 8:30 a.m.
The weather was windy and cold as the first fabric dropped from one of the 7,500 16-foot-high gates, creating what the artists billed as ``a visual golden river'' along 23 miles of the park's footpaths. More than 1 million square feet of fabric was used by the artists.
Its official title -- ``The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005'' -- refers to the artists' conception of the idea 26 years ago. It was expected to take about two hours to drop the fabric from all the gates.
meh.
If the average person has the skill to do it, it's not really "art".
I admit I dig it.
Their work is brilliant.
It's deliberately cheerful and absurd.
Kinda like having a big surprise birhtday party for a woman of 50.
Since today is the first I've heard of it, I had no expectations. I do, however, wish there had been different colors, as well.
Oh well. At least there are miles of bright orange in Central Park in the middle of February.
Anyone have pictures of the Surrouding Islands? I bet that was cool.
I like it
If the average person can pull this off, why have we not seen it before?
An intrinsic part of his artwork is the process and that includes the negotiation of the installation. He funds and pays for the installation through the sale of sketches of the projects. He has employed over a 1000 workers for this installation.
Tell me again how this is an "average person"?
Better yet. Does it really matter whether or not it IS "art"? It won't vanish into the ether if it isn't art...and I bet Christo would have created it anyway! And the responses would be pretty much the same! I love Christo's running fence more than his other work and I really don't care whether it is art. IMO this question, in a free country and a free market, is a waste of time. There will never be an exact definition of art that satisfies everyone as long as our country is free...Apparently this freaks some people out.
I spent several hours in the Park today, along with hundreds of thousands of other visitors. I was impressed.
I'm curious what you thought about the scale of these gates? Were you impressed by their height, or did you want them taller? Also, what about sound; did they all flap in the wind? I'm fascinated by these kind of structures, how they respond to their environment; I'd give anything to see (or to have created) Running Fence or the (the name escapes me) field of lightning rods out west (by another artist, of course).
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