Das Gates!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Some artists feel the need to cover everything in paint. Christo and Jean-Claude, on the other hand, want to wrap everything in cloth.
They have a new installation up in Central Park called “The Gates"--it sounds cool and looks awesome in the concept sketches. Here are a couple links that describe it: CNN’s coverage and Central Park’s coverage.
I was imaging a setting much like in the chinese film Hero. While it wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, i must say, it has some good moments. Let me break it down for you.
Pro:
1. They have single-handedly changed the meaning of Saffron from orangey-yellow to neon construction pylon orange.
2. I get to see Jean-Claude sporting this new color on her head
3. When the wind blows, the cloth hanging from the gates is really purrrty
4. It’s nice to be part of a communal activity that involves many people from many diverse places
Con:
1. The cloth is nothing like i’d imagined--it was thick and coarse and opaque! What happened to silky drapery? People flying around doing Kung-Fu in the park? sigh.
2. It makes the park really hard to jog through.
3. They just...weren’t that impressive.
I think i saw Kevin McCarthy (old actor who was in UHF but more prominently in Invasion of the Body Snatchers) in the park today. He was really old and had this younger woman who seemed to be an assistant helping him in a very professional manner.
Anyway, if you get a chance, it’s worth a look, but don’t be broken-hearted if you miss its 16-day run. :D
I’m actually kind of relieved to hear that the Gates aren’t as cool as they were talked up to be!
I saw the preliminary drawings for them, in which they looked luscious and flowy, and I was SOOOO jealous that you were there in NY and could run through them like a kid running through the laundry on the clothesline on a warm spring day.
Posted by laura on 02/16 at 11:33 AM