Turning Central Park Orange

[Christiern]

Christo is about to do his thing to Central Park. Some of his "Gates" will be across the street from me, so I have taken some pictures from my windows. Here (at the bottom of this post) is one from this afternoon--I'll get closer when they unfurl the stuff.--Chris

This time, wrap star Christo's open palette is . . . Central Park

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER

Travel Arts Syndicate

NEW YORK - The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude think big and they are very, very patient.

This was the couple that wrapped Berlin's Reichstag in silvery material, surrounded 11 islands in Biscayne Bay in pink fabric and placed thousands of umbrellas on both sides of the Pacific Ocean for The Umbrellas, Japan-USA, 1984-1991.

Now they're working in Manhattan's Central Park on a project they call The Gates. Their plan is to erect 7,500 gates at 12-foot intervals (except where low-lying branches make this impractical) over 23 miles of the park's 58 miles of pedestrian pathways. Fifteen thousand steel bases are already in place, awaiting the 16-foot-tall vinyl poles from which saffron-colored fabric will hang.

`CRAZY IDEA'
The panels will be unfurled on Feb. 12, weather permitting, and will remain until Feb. 27, after which the structures will be disassembled and the materials, recycled.

The project, which has taken 26 years to bring to fruition, is expected to draw millions of visitors to New York City. The $21 million project is financed entirely by the artists themselves from the sale of studies, preparatory drawings and collages, scale models and the like. Some of the preparatory drawings for The Gates, for instance, have been purchased by museums for as much as $600,000 each.

''In some ways people see it as this crazy idea,'' says Laurie Carman, a sculpture student at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston who took a semester off so she could come to New York and work on the project. ``And in some ways it may be, but I'm just anticipating it being this beautiful thing throughout Central Park and a real gift to New York City.''

BEYOND THE PARK
Like Christo and Jeanne-Claude's other projects, The Gates is free because it is in a public venue where all can come and go as they wish. However, there are other places to see their work in Manhattan, and some of this, too, is free.

[ejp626]

Do you really think millions of people will come to NYC just to see this? Millions? Maybe I should try to check it out. I've always wanted to be a lemming.

[Christiern]

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are an intriguing couple. If you haven't already surmised that, I suggest a visit to their site, which leaves no detail untold. There is also a special section about the Central Park "Gates" project.

Here's another photo I took from my window yesterday. These photos are like the Christmas tree that has yet to be decorated...

Edited February 9, 2005 by Christiern

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Thanks for posting and continuing to do so!

I saw the Pont Neuf installation when he covered it back in '84 maybe. Still have a little piece of it stashed away.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Thanks for posting and continuing to do so!

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are an intriguing couple. If you haven't already surmised that, I suggest a visit to their site, which leaves no detail untold.

Wonderful...Christo is so free, free, FREE!! Another example of how anyone can find their own little niche in a western democracy. (course he had to flee his communist home country first...but that's another story for another time)

I'll be interested to see when he gets the go ahead to wrap a cluster of temples in Burma or the city of Wuhan in China.

[ejp626]

I do want to apologize for implying that art lovers are lemmings. I was in a terrible mood and the puffery in the Travel Arts Syndicate "news piece" irritated me. I can believe that 2 million people might see The Gates, but most of them will be locals. The NY Times piece with its guestimate that 200K people would travel to NY to see the piece is much more reasonable. As it happens, I am coming to NY this weekend, for completely different reasons, and I will go ahead and try to see the Gates myself.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I see he's already gotten to this ridge back:

Must be Weizen's:

[Christiern]

The unfurling begins....took this one at 9:15 this morning...

[Noj]

Orange was an odd choice--it sort of says, "construction zone."

Christo's stuff is fun, so I'm not knocking him. I thought the umbrellas and island wrapping were cool. I'm sure these orange gates will provide a similar effect, an altering of the landscape which creates a surreal appearance.

[Jazzmoose]

(course he had to flee his communist home country first...but that's another story for another time)

Any chance of convincing him to go back? -_-

[Christiern]

Now that they are up, my first thought is one of disappointment. You are absolutely right, Noj, orange was a very poor choice--it really does look like a big road construction job, Christo's sketches were far more interesting, they had a more yellow color and sun-like glow to them.

Well, perhaps it will look more interesting when I go down and walk through these gates. In the meantime, here's a photo I just took--again from my windows.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Jesus! ....no central air in that place of yours, Chris? How long does it take for you to lower the water bucket down into the well and hoist 'er back up?

[Soul Stream]

Yes Chris, the sketches looked very interesting. The shots from your window look like a construction project in Central Park.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Soul Stream

[Christiern]

Jesus! ....no central air in that place of yours, Chris? How long does it take for you to lower the water bucket down into the well and hoist 'er back up?

I have no idea how long that takes, Weizen. I'll ask my scullery maid, and get back to you.

[brownie]

I still have to be convinced this is some kind of a masterpiece.

There was a short interview on French TV this evening of Christo and Jeanne-Claude after the orange drapes were unfolded. The journalist was asking about the meaning of all this to which Jeanne-Claude replied there was no meaning to it the same way that a sonata by Mozart had no meaning either.

Christo tried to intervene but was abruptly cut off by Jeanne-Claude!

I'ld rather listen to Mozart!

In any case, thanks Christern for providing this front row view!

[Christiern]

This may be a better view, turning my camera northward (close, BFrank, I'm at 104th). Tomorrow I'll get some closeups. Jeanne-Claude made much of the fact that the cloth (woven for this project in Germany) changes colors in the sunlight and in rain--we'll see, I hope so.

[Christiern]

And one last one for today...

BYW I see a steady stream of people walking through the gates--far more raffic than usual, especially in cold weather...

[Noj]

Brownie, I don't think there is much "convincing" to be accomplished here. It's a non-objective sculpture that appropriates the environment. I prefer representational sculpture, but sculpture has expanded its vocabulary considerably since the Old Masters. Christo's bag, fwiw, is original. Maybe someone else could expand on the deeper meaning, but I got the impression Christo is merely playing with the environment to change it in some fun way.

There is a documentary about the project Christo did in Northern California that is entertaining. Christo and his wife had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get all the landowners to agree, and the documentary featured many interviews with residents on their opinions of what Christo was doing. Some were very negative, and they expressed displeasure with these usurper artsy fartsy city folk. Christo employed residents to build the project, which changed opinions some. He also interacted with them during his stay and was friendly toward them, eventually winning many over.

Christo's design in Northern California was a tall, fence-like, white canvas object supported by posts that ran for miles perpendicular to the shore before disappearing into the ocean. Caught in the sun and reflecting colors, I thought it was cool--and once the project was complete many residents agreed.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Noj

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I was draining some red wine around the outdoor fireplace last night with a few neighbors and one Christo infatuated couple said they were going to Volvo it on up there bright & early this morning to check it out. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say next Fri. nite after a couple of glasses of Zinfandel. I asked her why Christo and the wife don't fly around together (unusual for those with grown children, yes?)..and she went on about the need for a (hypothetical) 'survivor' to carry on the legacy, etc. I dunno.

[connoisseur series500]

I see he's already gotten to this ridge back:

Must be Weizen's:

So you drink Stella Artois and leave the Rolling Rock for your dog, huh?

[ghost of miles]

Some goofball from the assembly team was just quoted on All Things Considered as saying, "Putting this together was like organizing the invasion of Normandy..." Well, not quite, o clueless one!

[mailman]

I saw this this aftenoon from the crosstown bus on west 59th street. I thought it looked terrible. For thelife of me I can't understand why the city allowed central park to be used for this ego trip.

The streets were crowded with people going to see it. Damned if I know why.

[chandra]

Here are some pictures from the press...

Is it orange or Saffron? Color means different things to different people. Saffron has a bit of spiritual connotation in my mind and Orange brings out a sense of flamboyancy in me. The close-up shot looks breathtakingly beautiful...

Edited February 13, 2005 by chandra

[Christiern]

I saw this this aftenoon from the crosstown bus on west 59th street.  I thought it looked terrible.  For thelife of me I can't understand why the city allowed central park to be used for this ego trip. 

The streets were crowded with people going to see it.  Damned if I know why.

Look at it this way: It gave hundreds of people a paid job, it gave some U.S. manufacturers a sizable special order, and it is attracting thousands to New York, where they will spend money. All this, and it doesn't cost the city a penny--besides, it will go poof! in a couple of weeks.

As I say, it looks like a giant construction job from my windows, but I think one has to experience it before making a judgment--so, I will be crashing the gates with my camera in the next few days. I'll post some results here.

• Weizen, my scullery maid, Ludmilla, does not lower a bucket--she was an industrial engineer/designer in the old country (Rumania) before fleeing there, sans diplomas, to escape a brutal dictatorship. She has actually modified the old family Nilfisk to suck up the water from a nearby lake. She then runs it through a purifier of her own making (I had wondered what became of my lava lamps and Cory coffee pot).
  
  BTW, I have a feeling that Luddie is preparing for another escape--I saw a pile of Canadian brochures in her room, and I know they weren't there back in the days when it seved as a closet.