Posted on 02/12/2005 9:05:35 AM PST by Vision
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.
"It's a bit insane, but that's why everybody is here," said Ali Naqui, who was brought to the unveiling against his will by his fiancee.
Among the first folks there were 17 fourth-graders from an elementary school in Queens. The group boarded a bus before sunrise and made the trip into Manhattan, where they were suitably impressed by the spectacle.
"It's a waste of money, but it's fabulous," said student Shakana Jayson. "It brings happiness when you look at it."
Visitors to the park had already admired the vinyl gates, even with the fabric still tucked inside "cocoons" on top of the structures.
"I think it's fantastic," said Dominique Borel, who was walking her dog, Mickey, on Friday. "I love it. I think it's exhilarating." Mickey was wearing an orange scarf around his neck in honor of the project.
The artists have said there is no best place to see the piece, but art connoisseurs and the merely curious staked out the best views. James Ellis said he planned to see the piece from Belvedere Castle.
"February's always been a dreary month for me, so I think it kind of spices it up a little bit and makes me want to come out to the park at a time when I usually wouldn't," Ellis said.
The artists are paying for the project - which could be as much as $21 million - themselves.
"I can't promise, particularly since this is New York, that everyone will love 'The Gates,' but I guarantee that they will all talk about it," Bloomberg said Friday at a news conference with the artists. "And that's really what innovative, provocative art is supposed to do."
Although Christo and Jeanne-Claude's have invested so much time and effort in the project, they were reticent to discuss "The Gates."
"It's very difficult," explained Christo. "You ask us to talk. This project is not involving talk. It's a real, physical space. It's not necessary to talk. You spend time, you experience the project."
"The Gates" is the pair's first major project in New York City. In their most recent project, "Wrapped Reichstag" (Berlin, 1995), they used a silvery fabric to wrap the building, creating a flow of vertical folds.
The city has said tens of thousands of visitors may come to "The Gates," over 16 days. Some of them have seen other works by the artists, who have created temporary art projects around the world.
Sibyl Rubottom, who saw the artists'"The Umbrellas," in which 3,100 umbrellas were opened in California and Japan in 1991, said she started planning her trip to New York from San Diego last spring.
Rubottom said she planned to return to the park on Saturday and would go to an "apres-'Le Gates' opening party" at a friend's house. Rubottom was wearing an orange jacket and scarf, and her orange eyeglass frames happened to match, too.
"I dressed for the occasion," she said.
A) Personally, I like Cristo's stuff. It redefines space in surprising ways. And I like the Gates.
B)I wasn't offended by the festivities in DC. People get to spend their money the way that they choose. Actually, I think the money spent was relatively modest.
C)I never said that "most art" is availble for $10,000. However, there is a great deal of art -- very good stuff --available in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. As a small time collector, I know this for a fact.
Nice. I like your work very much!
I made the mistake of going to see them by myself. You really had to have someone driving for you to get a good look, but then driver doesn't see them, so you have to switch places. In that respect, it wasn't a well thought out installation.
My son-in-law is a Navy pilot - the planes are wonderful and I particularly like the World War1 section.
What a project!
The only question I have is when was the phased array structure built?
Gee, I wish I had twenty million dollars to piss away.
Given the freakazoids on both sies of the park in Upper Manhattan, I don't even want to think about it.
I'd sure that somewhere in that Upper or Eastside freak show there's an S&M Den that's recreated the whole Abu-Ghrab treatment.
Who knew Andy Rooney was into that stuff...
>>> 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.>>>
I'd sure like to get a hold of the stuff they were doing when they got this idea.
Hippie quacks with too much money and time on their hands. Bloomberg is just as wacky for allowing Central Park to be marred this way.
Why does Hillary think she looks good in Pepto Bismol pink clothing?
I've always liked Christo's work. Thanks for the photo, as I hadn't seen this installation yet.
If you are walking past it or around it, it will definitely look different from the way it looks in the photo. A matter of perspective, which is always part of Christo's creations.
The fun and fascination of much of modern art is moving around it at watching it change and shift and affect you in different ways. I always enjoy art that has an element of playfulness, the creative part of the human spirit.
I wish he'd come wrap the gloomy place I live in something saffron --and soon.
You are good! I like that racoon!
Oh my, I have to admit,,I like it, I really do and I want to go see it. I like Cristos and his stuff. It is very cool to me.
I am an artiste! Or a kook. But I think it is nice.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art..
Personally, I think they should keep the gates but use a more durable material instead of saffron cloth.
This could be NYC's Eiffel tower.
Right. And you can find pretty good art, what you like, from people who are not known.
Heck I paid 7 grand for a Rodrigue Blue Dog because I walked in his shop and it sort of drew me and I was mesmerized by it,,I kept saying to myself, "this is kitsch, not art" but it was hypnotic. I had to have it. Later, much later, at an odd moment I realized with a eureka feeling why I bought it. It looked exactly like a portrait of my four sisters. Now I look at it and feel downright glad I have it. I told them and they go crazy trying to figure out which dog is them. It is four dogs, acrylic on canvas. I don't think it is worth what I paid for it, but I am glad I have it.
Beautiful; impressive; very patriotic!
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