THE GATES...monumental project in NY's Central Park

[foxy]

Work has just begun on the largest outdoor art installation in NY's Central Park by Christo. For 16 days, starting February 12th, 23 miles of the park's walkways will have 7,500 saffron-colored gates, 16 feet high placed at 12 foot intervals hung with saffron fabric panels.

This will be an astounding art event that no one visiting NY should miss.

For some visuals and more info go to http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html

[+ nycman]

Can't wait to se how many are going to die this time....

death by Saffron Gates...what a pathetic way to go...lol

 

ARTIST KILLS THE VIEWER AS ART:

 

OK, so it wasn't in the name of art, but its happened. And if it's happened, then it's been done. In 1983, Susan Edmondson was killed when a 500-pound iron sculpture by Beverly Pepper fell on top of her. Ouch! However, not be outdone, environmental artist Christo killed two people on completely different days in separate time zones with a work of art. On October 26, 1991, Lori Rae Keevil-Matthews was visiting Christo's umbrella project in Tejon Pass, California. The piece was an environmental project consisting of 1,760, 485-pound yellow umbrellas planted throughout the pass. As part of the project, Christo had also installed 1,340, 485-pound blue umbrellas in Ibaraki, Japan. Keevil-Matthews was killed by the piece after a 40 M.P.H. wind pulled up an umbrella and smashed her against a boulder. "Out of respect to her memory" Christo had both pieces taken down. On October 31, during the de-installation of the project in Japan, Masaaki Nakamura was electrocuted to death when the crane he was operating, which was in the process of removing a sculpture, touched a 65,000 volt high-tension line.

[uptownmike]

Quite ugly, plus a total waste of time and money.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Quite ugly, plus a total waste of time and money.

 

I totally agree. Who pays for this anyway?

 

The money could be put to much better use - like providing shelter for the homeless, or a dozen other causes.

[Karl-G]

I don't know the details on the other two cases, but the lady in California (and her kid) ignored the many explicit signs warning to stay away from the umbrellas; they were meant to be seen at a distance. An operating crane which hits a power line seems like a poor move for an operator and has nothing to do with the sculpture. Beverly Pepper is another person, and I do not know the details.

 

All costs are privately paid by the artist, usually raising the money by selling fragments of the work after its brief life. Currently Christo is making drawings of the NY Project and selling them. I suspect the fabric used in this project will eventually be sold to raise money. No damage to the environment is made; any changes made for the installation are very carefully redone. This is all part of the legal proposal which must be made to the governmental agencies involved beforehand.

 

If you are in NY, I highly recommend going to Central Park during Feb. 12-27 and experiencing the Gates. Please wait before you make a judgment. Contemporary art is the most difficult to understand. Reserve judgment. Experience. Then make a judgment if you wish.

 

You might also say that the $20 M being spend on inaugural festivities in D.C. soon should be spent for the tsunami victims. And that would make more sense to me.

 

Did you see that Sandra Bullock donated $1 M to the victims? She also donated $1 M at the time of the 911 events. She is certainly a generous and considerate person. Other actors who make $15-$20 M per film might do the same.

[foxy]

The project is expected to bring in $80 million in revenue to the city from tourists who will come world wide to see it.

[+ Lucky]

The Gaiety probably brings in more!!! SO let's drape boys from the trees in Central Park!;-)

[Guest zipperzone]

>You might also say that the $20 M being spend on inaugural

>festivities in D.C. soon should be spent for the tsunami

>victims. And that would make more sense to me.

 

I could be wrong but the figure I've read is closer to 40 million.

Personally I think that is criminal.

 

>Did you see that Sandra Bullock donated $1 M to the victims?

>She also donated $1 M at the time of the 911 events. She is

>certainly a generous and considerate person. Other actors who

>make $15-$20 M per film might do the same.

 

Not to take anything away from Bullock - but she is probably in a 50% tax bracket, so it's really only $500,000 out of her pocket. Still a very generous guesture though!

[Karl-G]

Apart from the financial aspect, Christo's work claims to be an art form which makes viewers aware in a new way of their environment and thus able to appreciate it more. His work is in a long tradition which goes back to Stonehenge, the pyramids in Egypt, the stone markings along the coast of Peru, and many others.

 

Certainly, when I have flown over the Great Salt Lake and seen Smithson's "Spiral Jetty," another example in this genre, I was struck with amazement. I flew into Miami when "Surrounded Islands" was created, and the entire plane load of passengers was delighted as the pilot circled for us. Reports from California when "Running Fence" was created indicated that after initial skepticism, local citizens begged to have it made permanent and were delighted with it. (Parisians hated the Eiffel Tower the whole summer it first went up in 1889.)

 

I don't think we should make fun of something just because we don't understand it. Much modern art in its many forms is difficult for me to appreciate, but I try to understand. I don't want to be locked into saying only Grecian maidens (in white concrete) pouring from an urn are art (in Florida). It should be interesting to see the reactions of people in New York. Please reserve judgment until you have experienced, thought about, and talked about new art forms.

[Fin Fang Foom]

>The money could be put to much better use - like providing

>shelter for the homeless, or a dozen other causes.

 

Remember that the next time you fork over $250 to pay for an escort.

 

Charitably yours,

 

FFF

[RM]

I'm not sure that's true. The umbrellas were all over the place, and it was very easy to get close to many of them. They were giving away (free) pieces of umbrella cloth while the umbrellas were up. Somewhere I have two 4 inch square pieces of cloth, one blue and one yellow. Of course, those pieces were leftover, not ever part of any umbrellas.

[CT Dick]

Hear! Hear, FFF!

 

Furthrermore, should there be no art until all the problems of poverty are solved?

 

Dick