Young Artist Creates "Duplo Gates"

Thought some of you might enjoy this story. A toddler has put together his own version of The Gates using Duplo lego blocks. The installation took 15 minutes, then it was promptly destroyed in a matter of seconds by a seven-year-old critic and his seven-month-old henchman. -ac

The Gates in the Snow

This photo was submitted by Michelle Nevius.

Michelle, who offers private walking tours of Central Park, has posted video clips and photos on her website.

A Spiritually Uplifting Experience

Rebecca Zimmerman reports on her visit to Central Park this weekend. "I had a very spiritually uplifting experience walking through Central Park," she said. "I felt like I was being surrounded by a constantly moving and shifting temple."

"I loved to watch the curtains of the Gates flapping in the wind and the sun reflecting off them."

Eric's Pictures

A series of photos from The Gates by Eric Carvin.

A Bit Underwhelming, but a Spectacle Nonetheless

Mary Burns says that she feels The Gates is "a bit underwhelming." She then thinks about Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of the park, and his goal of achieving "a public space where different types of people can interact."
"in that sense," she concludes, "I think the Christo exhibit really achieve its goal, and it's quite a spectacle."

Gates Fotolog

There's a new Gates fotolog that might interest some of you. It's another collection of Gates photos from people who use fotolog.net to blog their photos. Special thanks to Patrick Kowalczyk for sharing. -ac

Jason Block's Photos

Jason Block has published a photo album of Gates photos. Here's a preview:

Important: Please Limit Your Photo Uploads

Hi everyone,

It appears that large photos are overloading the email system and preventing people from posting. Because of this, I'm going to have to impose the following rules:

• Post only one photo per email.
  
• The photo must be smaller than 200k.
  
• Don't post another photo until you've seen your last photo posted.
  
• Please cc the-gates @ yahoogroups.com so I can monitor the pace of posts.

Thanks for your cooperation,
andy

Andy's Lame QTVR Gates Experiment

Unlike the high-quality QTVR file posted by Hans, I managed to make a really, really bad QTVR panorama while at the Gates. As you'll be able to tell from looking at the file, I didn't use a tripod, so it comes across more like a bad hallucination than a 360 panorama.

For those of you who can't access QTVR files, here's a flat JPG version of it. If it were a good panorama, it would look like a long rectangle rather than a slithering worm. So as you can see, it's problematic to say the least, but I figured I'd share it just for the fun of it.



Note to self - next time Christo is in town, bring a tripod. -ac

Virtual Slideshows from The Gates

For those of you who'd like to sit back and watch a slideshow of photos from The Gates, I wanted to share two links with you. The first is a slideshow of photos contributed from our blog. The second is a slideshow of Flickr photos tagged with "thegates". What's the difference between the two? The first collection contains photos posted through this blog, while the second aggregates all photos submitted by hundreds of Flickr members who visited The Gates. So if you'd like to see what your fellow blog users have photographed, go to the first slideshow, while if you prefer a broader collection from the general public, go to the second one. Enjoy! -andy

The Orange Fabric, Up Close and Personal

Some people have been emailing asking for a more detailed description of what the orange fabric looks like up-close. So I decided to scan a swatch of the fabric given to me by one of the volunteers working at the Gates.

The images as displayed above is pretty close to life size; if you click on it to see the full size picture it will be about 50% bigger than the original. If you think the scan quality is bad and it's causing weird reflections on the fabric, that's actually not the case. The fabric is very reflective in natural light, so the alternating patterns of white, orange and black look the same when you look at the real thing, shimmering when you move it. (On the computer screen it reminds me of the black, white and orange candy corn you get around Halloween.) So while the color choice wouldn't have been my personal first choice, the texture and reflective qualities of the fabric is spectacular.... -ac

ps- question for readers: if you were Christo, what color would you have chosen? Please post a comment and let us know.

Videos from Opening Weekend

Hi everyone... Here's a small selection of some of the videos I took during the first weekend of The Gates:

• Crowds shouting bravo to Christo and Jeanne-Claude
  
• The first gate is unfurled
  
• Billowing Gates
  
• Exiting a tunnel towards a row of gates
  
• Walking through the gates, part 1
  
• Walking through the gates, part 2
  
• Unfurling, Part 1
  
• Unfurling, Part 2

Enjoy... -andy

Harvey's Latest Photos

More photos courtesy of Harvey B. Silikovitz, used with permission.

Gapstow Bridge

Blue and Orange Sky

Sheep Meadow

Looking Toward Time Warner Center

Reflections

Influencing the Minds of Men Through Their Imaginations

"A great object of all that is done in a park, of all the art of a park, is to influence the minds of men through their imaginations...."
- Frederick Law Olmstead,Central Park architect

Better While Running

"I thought The Gates were better while running," says this caller. He suggests you view it from a bike and "get some speed" rather than getting stuck within the crowds.

More Bloomberg Audio

Here's some more audio I recorded of Mayor Bloomberg after Saturday's opening ceremony. I recorded it with my iPod, as evident from the following picture:

Note my iPod in the bottom left corner; if you look really close you can see a reflection of my eye, nose and camera in the iPod. -ac

"I Was Slightly Underwhelmed"

Suggests talking to the "the people with the poles and the tennis balls" -- the project's paid volunteers. Dave is with The Crescent School in the Bronx.

"You've Fallen Victim to Art."

"This Is Not My Color,"

says a woman.

Two Italians

are carrying Gates-colored bags.

A Couple With an iPod Shuffle

take a picture with the shuffle and the Gates.

The Christo People Have Tennis Balls

On the ends of long, extendable prods.

"A Higher Than Average Number"

of Europeans in Central Park.

"All The Flags Are Radiating Orange."

Andy comments that it seems a little more festive on Sunday than on Saturday's opening; more people, better light.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Here's a pictures of Christo and Jeanne-Claude that I took while walking between the lake and Strawberry Fields. They showed up in a caravan of limos and paparazzi. I managed to squeeze in and take this photo.



I also managed to take two short videos. The first video shows Christo and Jeanne Claude walking from their limo. The second video shows them contemplatiing The Gates from across a lake. Somehow I managed to be standing just a few feet away from them while all of this transipired. -andy

The First Morning

More pics from yesterday morning. -andy

A gate flutters with Central Park West in the background.

Unfurling each gate took most of the morning.

You can see them in every direction.

A view of some of The Gates from across the lake.

The New York skyline in the background.

Row after row of gates.

Yesterday's Unfurling

Some pics from yesterday's unfurling.

Kids wait for The Gates to open.

A few minutes before the unfurling.

The first gates are unfurled.

Mayor Bloomberg chats with the crowd after the unfurling.

-andy

Visiting from Chicago

An elderly couple from Chicago talk about visiting The Gates.

Volunteers Have All the Fun

A volunteer talks about the fun he's had over the course of the last week.

Loving Public Art

Three women from Chicago who asked Andy to take a group pictures for them reciprocate the favor by talking about The Gates.

Sitting in the Sculpture Garden

A man posts a voicemail from the sculpture garden. "It's very, very beautiful," he says.

Walking with Christo and Jeanne-Claude to their Limo

Andy walks along with Christo and Jeanne-Claude as they are followed by paparazzi and fans to their limo. (Turn up your volume to hear it - I had to whisper so I wouldn't irritate the artists.) - andy

Accompanying Christo and Jeanne-Claude to the Lake

By sheer coincidence, I was hanging around at the lake and saw Christo and Jeanne-Claude arrive in their limos. They came down to where I had been standing to view the Gates from across the lake, so I recorded this audio as I walked downhill with them. Note Jeanne-Claude getting angry at paparazzi for photographing her rather than The Gates. :-) -andy

A Volunteer Gets Injured

Andy witnesses a volunteer cut his eyelid when a cardboard roll hit his face while unfurling a gate.