" The Gates" installation in Central Park, N.Y.C

[gahspidy]

Gene, your photo is excellent. I like it alot ( it is not backing up your opinion of the exhibit very well) 8)


Coachgns. . . good shots thanks for contributing

[drjimmy42]

Thanks so much for posting these. I was in NYC a week before these went up and didn't get a chance to go back. I like the pics a lot. On the second one, I think a steeper angle would have been cool. I mean like "lying on the ground" steep. Not necessarily looking up at the gates, just on the ground at the same angle, so you see even more gates with the cool vertical effect.

The third one is quite nice. I like the almost sunburst off to the left. However, the fourth one... there's just something strange with the lighting. Its similar to #3 but it just doens't work as well for me.

Really great shots. Thanks for sharing.

[Liz]

Does anyone know when is the official last day of The Gates in Central Park? Thanks.

Liz

I'm sure you have all heard of this huge installation that is here in Central Park called The Gates. . .by Jeane Claude and Christo. There are 23 miles of randomly placed gates with Safron fabric draped over and will be up for 16 days and then forever gone.
There has been much controversey here about them, sparked mostly I would think because of the enormity and expense of this project. I went to see them a few days ago in the morning and was somewhat disappointed with it as my expectations proved to be higher.
This exhibit has sparked much conversation and even debate, some of which has surprised me. On a public radio station here the other evening, there was a debate going on as to whether or not Art should have meaning.( Christo and Jeane Claude state that this installation has no meaning at all , only visual delight and feel) I am of the mind that no meaning is necessary and sometimes things are just meant to be visually appealing.
Anyway, here are some shots of the Gates, just a small area of the park at 106th street.

[gahspidy]

Sunday, not sure if that is last day or they start taking it down that day. I would figure since Sunday is a big day for central park, they would start taking it down Sunday evening or monday morning.

[Liz]

Thanks!

Liz

Sunday, not sure if that is last day or they start taking it down that day. I would figure since Sunday is a big day for central park, they would start taking it down Sunday evening or monday morning.

[Asylum Steve]

Thanks, Gary, for posting your pics. I, for one, happen to be a huge Christo fan, and personally find it odd that so many (normally) creative minded people seem to be putting him down here. But whatever, it's a free country...

My fondness for Christo, his wife and their work stems partly from the fact that I moved to South Florida at the exact time the Surrounded Islands Project (http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/si.html) was underway. It was one of many wonderous things that made me realize Miami was a very special place and that I had made the right choice in making it my new home.

I wish I had been able to help work on the Islands Project. I had quite a few friends that did. I was, however, luckly enough to be friends with a woman whose husband was the lead attorney for he entire project. This meant I got to be an eye-witness to the incredible planning, preparation, energy, and work that goes into these events. Being behind the scenes also gave me the great oportunity to spend a little time with both Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and to have several autographed books and posters as prized mementos.

To clear up a couple of misconceptions, Christo's work in not conceptual art, but rather simply large-scale sculpture. I am always baffled by other people's confusion over this.

His vision is to pare down his designs to the primary elements of form, color, texture, and light, but do it on an extremely large scale. The beauty of his projects is in their simplicity, much the same as a majority of the things we see and marvel at as photographers in our everyday life.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude completely finance their own projects, mostly through the sale of limited-edition prints of project renderings. BTW, these drawings and prints are quite stunning in their own right, as Christo is also an extremely talented graphic artist and illustrator.

To not be aware of this other art (which hangs in many prestegious galleries and private collections) is to only know a little about the man. And while anyone has the right to feel his projects are a waste of money, need I remind you it is HIS money to "waste", and not any different than any other artists who buy their own materials to do their own work.

There is also the feeling that Christo somehow "invades" or "disrupts" the spaces he works in. Far from it. In fact, not only does he completely clean up all of his materials (leaving the areas as he found them), but in the case of the Surrounded Islands in Miami, his team of workers actually removed over 40 TONS of garbage from the eleven islands during the project, addressing a terrible problem the politicians of South Florida had evaded for many years.

Environmental groups have almost always sided with Christo and Jeanne-Claude, completely understanding that their projects RAISE AWARENESS of the envirionment and its use and abuse.

Each of Christo's projects that I've seen I've thought was striking, including the Gates in NYC. He takes ordinary urban and suburban scenes that millions of people see (and perhaps take for granted) every day of their lives, then adds wonderful splashes of form, color and texture.

I mean, just LOOK at the photos here! Can no one else see it?

Gene's post was the most ironic (and please GB, don't think I'm singling you out, because I think of you as a friend and cetainly respect your opinion), because I looked at his pic and thought to myself, "my god, that's so incredible to look at. I only wish I could have been there to see it in person". I would have photographed it at all hours of the day in every kind of light and weather...

I'm sorry, but his work genuinely stirs that kind of emotion and passion in me.

To me, the most important aspect of Christo's work is the way it involves the community. Controversial or not, it's as if he takes a whole community by the scruff of the neck, turns them around, and says,

"LOOK! Look at your city! Look at it in a different way! Take a REAL look at it for the first time! See how it's different! See how it's the same! FInd the beauty you didn't realize was there!".

He injects an intense creative energy into the community, a (usually) sizeable financial shot in the arm to local businesses, invites a colorful dialogue over his work and public art in general (as we have here, heh heh), then packs everything up and goes upon his way, leaving the areas the way he found them, yet somehow forever changed (people STILL talk about the Surrounded Islands in Miami).

I can't help but admire that...

IMO, one of the most important aspects of any great city or community is its Art in Public Places program, for which Christo's work certainly applies. When "designing for the masses", an artist's unique vision is bound to be misunderstood and misinterpreted by many (not to mention considered a waste of money by some).

This is the price we pay for having a cultural identity.

Hopefully, knowing a little bit more about the man and his work may just increase the toleance level a bit. He has a vision, and devotes his life to making it work. In my book, that's not a bad way to be...

[Asylum Steve]

Gene,

I appreciate your reply. I wasn't really looking to change folks' opinion in my post, but rather give the reasons I enjoy Christo's work.

You made me realize (much like myself) that you're the kind of guy that, even when he feels a different way about something, is willing to listen and perhaps reconsider his view.

That's a great quality to have...

I think many times, knowing a little bit more about an artist and their work helps you understand and maybe appreciate it a bit more. That's certainly true in Christo's case, a man whose projects are often a bit ambiguous when taken strictly at face value.

If I could just get across one point, it would be that Christo's installations really are not the main focus of his work, simply the final "chapter". For each project he completes, there is a period (sometimes many years) where he expresses his vision in beautifully rendered drawings and illustrations.

The pre-visualization, design, and planning stages last much much longer than any final installation, and are carried out in a very traditionally depicted way.

I guess I'm impressed that he is able to accomplish the things he does, usually overcoming numerous and sometimes formidable logistic, fabrication, and legal hurdles.