Christo's Gates

[Jonathan Sorger]

On my first trip to New York since obtaining my PPL, I couldn't help but
notice the number of Cessna's flying over Central Park. Anyone get a
nice aerial shot of the Gates?

Jonathan

[Bob Chilcoat]

No, but I got a good shot of Pale Male circling above for a look.

Actually he had a mouse in his mouth, so I suspect he wasn't really
interested.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Jonathan Sorger" > wrote in message
...
> On my first trip to New York since obtaining my PPL, I couldn't help but
> notice the number of Cessna's flying over Central Park. Anyone get a
> nice aerial shot of the Gates?
>
> Jonathan

[Alan]

I was in NYC about 2 weeks ago and went to Central Park to see the
"gates" from the ground. All I can say is: "I don't get it."

$20 mill of Christo's own money spent so you can walk around under
these big orange flaps that will be gone soon is an art project that
this philistine just can't get his arms around. Like I said, it was
his own money and I kept thinking, man, I'm in the wrong business.





On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 16:28:53 +0000 (UTC), Jonathan Sorger
> wrote:

>On my first trip to New York since obtaining my PPL, I couldn't help but
>notice the number of Cessna's flying over Central Park. Anyone get a
>nice aerial shot of the Gates?
>
>Jonathan

[Cub Driver]

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 23:10:20 GMT, (Alan) wrote:

>$20 mill of Christo's own money spent so you can walk around under
>these big orange flaps that will be gone soon is an art project that
>this philistine just can't get his arms around.

The funniest set of reviews were in the Wall Street Journal. One (last
Friday?) raved about it and its effect on New Yorkers in the park. The
other (yesterday, Monday) damned it for mocking the beautiful park,
and even because they'd chosen the saffron color of a Buddhist monk in
a Jewish-Christian city!

I wish I could have seen it. It sounded like fun. (This was evidently
the first time in hotel history that New York hotels were in such
demand on weekends that they could charge the same rates as on
weekdays. All for an art show!)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude raise the money by selling photographs,
paintings, and probably strips of cloth (I'm not sure about that) from
their wraps.

The joke (for those for whom it is a joke) is only partly the exhibit.
The 26-year fight with NYC bureaucrats to get permission to install
the Gates was as much as part of what Christo and his wife did as was
the fabric installations. Even in New Hampshire, I can appreciate that
part of the show :)

More power to them, say I.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

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[Montblack]

("Cub Driver" wrote)
> Christo and Jeanne-Claude raise the money by selling photographs,
> paintings, and probably strips of cloth (I'm not sure about that) from
> their wraps.


http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html#gatesFAQ

(From the website)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude regard this all their artworks as babies, created
jointly in love, that come into the world with their own strengths and
frailties, living things that are cherished.

Their short life-spans creates a preciousness and an urgency, encouraging us
to bear witness and drink in the art as much as we can, while we can, all
the while knowing it may well be gone the next time we visit the site -- in
this case Central Park.

Our memories of this experience are how the artwork changes us -- perhaps
the most powerful force of art, that the changes made are not in the site,
but in us.


Can I purchase a "gate" or fabric after the installation?

Separate "gates" and their components are not available to anyone and there
are reasons that emerge from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's aesthetic for this.
The Gates and their components will be industrially recycled.

The work of art in The Gates is the entire environment, in this case Central
Park and its surrounding environs. To experience the artwork, one immerses
oneself into that environment. Each separate "gate" would be merely a relic
of the artwork and not a work of art. Seven thousand, five hundred
structures together in Central Park IS a work of art.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude wish to reverse the relationship in art between
artwork and relic. Christo's preparatory works, predict what a Christo and
Jeanne-Claude work of art will look and feel like.


Montblack
My definition of art has always been: If I can do that, it ain't art. The
Gates IS art - I would have picked the wrong color fabric (something on
sale) or made the gates out of white PVC.