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mg

Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!

by mg at 05:27 PM on February 13, 2005

Though I’ve lived in New York City for most of my life, I can count on two fingers the number of art openings I’ve been to. It isn’t that I’m not interested in art, I’m just not interested in the pomp and circumstance that surrounds these kinds of events. Still, I couldn’t keep away from an opening here in the city this weekend. It was for Christo: The Gates.

Christo is famous for his landscape art like the umbrellas in Japan, the running wall in California, and covering the Reichstag in Germany. This new project, The Gates, includes, uhm, gates with billowy fabric placed along the 26 miles of pathways through Central Park. As news report after news report has mentioned, Christo has wanted to put up these gates for more than 20 years, but the city thought spending millions of dollars for a temporary, and potentially landscape scarring project was just silly. Well, with mayor Mike Bloomberg gearing up for a re-election campaign and looking to boost his popularity, and Christo agreeing to foot the 20 million dollar cost of the project, the wheels were sufficiently greased, and this weekend marked the first of just three weekends that the exhibit will be open.

The city expects millions of people to view the exhibit, which spans the entirety of the park, and if the crowds out yesterday were any indication, those numbers aren’t an exaggeration.

The 7500 gates, spaced only feet from each other, create quite an imposing view and totally engulf you no matter where you move in the park. But, the color cloth used for the exhibit is a much more appropriate tone for an advertisement for Home Depot than the announced “saffron” and the biggest question seeing this inspired in me was how an artist can afford to bankroll this 20+ million dollar project. I’m not sure it’s art, but I will admit it is impressive.

If you are in the area, I’d definitely recommend making the trip, but if you can’t, here are some pictures I took:


comments (11)

Did you remove some colour from everything but the gates? All looks black and white, like some dodgy Conrad Hall trick for a Spielberg movie. The red coat in the black and white Schindler's List springs to mind. If not, NYC is one helluva grey place eh?

Looks utterly pointless to me... Probably have to be there to appreciate it. S'like that bed some British female artist did here, all I saw was a bed... And I don't think of her as an artist. I don't even think she carried the bed into the exhibit. Did this guy erect every single gate? Probably not... Is it art? Not in my view. Some other dude at the same exhibit as the bed placed a tall glass of water on a shelf and nailed it twelve feet off the ground, on the wall, and called it: 'The Oak Tree'.

Pointless! Talentless! Unskilled!

That ape shaped hedge/tree/thingy... That's art!

by Ex Crimson Guard NCO at February 13, 2005 5:43 PM


Weird. I had this premonition reading about this thing in the paper that someone would post about it. Never thought there'd be pix though. I kind of disagree, though y'all know how I feel about artsy, intellectual stuff. I think it's kind of cool in a Japanese garden sort of way. They should commission this Cristo to design better sound barriers along interstates. They are long and as it is, rather nondescript. Maybe a graffiti motif or something. Or porn.

by Anna at February 13, 2005 6:36 PM


Great pictures! I'm surprised how the installation looks just like the architectural plans they made for it.

Apropos of nothing, I'm wondering if I should move to New York if I don't get into any graduate schools. Is that a good idea or a bad one?

by jean at February 14, 2005 3:41 AM


I took a walk through the GATES sunday afternoon. Shitload of people there.

Took some pictures, but they all look the same(obviously)...

BUT MG: A good shot is the little FOUNTAIN next to Bethesda at around 415pm. Sun is perfect.

I will put some up on my blog too.

by LOCKHEED at February 14, 2005 5:24 AM


If you move to New York, make sure to try the outdoor chicken cooked on hibachis by shady looking dudes in Jackson Heights. Mmm, tastes like chicken. But may be dog.

by Anna at February 14, 2005 7:37 AM


Crimson: I did kill the color for everything but the gates. However, it was really grey to begin with. When I get home I'll post an undoctored version of one of the pictures so you can get a better idea.

At first I totally agreed with you on "pointless." It seems like more of a feat of organization and engineering than a piece of art. However, it is incredibly impressive to be in the middle of it all, and that sense of awe has continued to stick with me a couple days later. I still don't know if that makes it art though.

Anna: Think of all the accidents of the highway sound barriers had pr0n on them. It'd make guys as bad a drivers as the women.

Lock: That second to last shot is of the fountain. That was probably my favorite spot.

Jean: Hey, if you move to NYC I'll let you babysit my kid. If that doesn't seal the deal for you I don't know what would.

by mg at February 14, 2005 11:18 AM


You mean like pix of the accidents or the gore? I wouldn't be into that, but I might sneak a peak.

by Anna at February 14, 2005 7:37 PM


The art geek in me had to correct MG's typo of saying "Christos" instead of "Christo."

Now the art geek in me will refrain from a very long diatribe about how I would say it is, indeed, art.

Oh, and all of their work is funded by selling the preperatory drawings and models and such. Which is still quite an impressive feat to raise $20+ million.

by snaggle at February 15, 2005 3:30 PM


Goddamn, I don't visit badsam for a couple of days and then a million posts show up.
I know I'm a little late to comment on the Christo thing, but I find the guy very interesting. When I lived in Berlin, there was an exhibit somewhere about all of the things he'd done and it was fascinating. Definitely challenges one's sense of what is art. The dude's a bit screwy in the head in an artistic way, but he's managed to become very famous and lives off off of wrapping things and putting up brightly colored things in random places. Go him.

by Leaffin at February 16, 2005 4:28 PM


If this does qualify as art... I'm sorry but I think every single everyday object has to qualify as well. My toaster, designed by Swedes... Probably... Work of art. My face, thrown together using the genetic makeup of my parents... Art. The cigarette burning in my left hand... Art.

by Ex Crimson Guard NCo at February 16, 2005 6:16 PM


LOL! MG, you're tempting me something fierce!

Ex Crimson, I think that's Christo's point. I heard him say in an interview that he and Jeanne-Claude do their art just to make themselves happy. I respect that a lot. It's better than the works of artists which are never presented without the artists' explanations for them. Some of the modern art collection at L.A. County Museum of Art is like that... I couldn't believe it when I saw it! What's up with artists telling you what to think about their art? I think Christo is cool with people both loving and hating his stuff.

And regarding the merchandising, one of my jobs is involved in that and the stuff is flying off the shelves. Some of the proceeds are even going to Nurture New York's Nature. I gotta admit I caught the bug and bought a commemorative tote bag myself.

by jean at February 17, 2005 1:15 AM