Saturday, February 12, 2005

Visiting from Chicago

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An elderly couple from Chicago talk about visiting The Gates.

Volunteers Have All the Fun

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

Loving Public Art

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

Sitting in the Sculpture Garden

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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

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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

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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

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

Mayor Bloomberg Chats with the Crowd

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Andy sees Mayor Bloomberg chat with visitors.

Bloomberg: "Art is Anything You Want it to be"

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Mayor Bloomberg tells a visitor, "Art is anything you want it to be." He also encourages them to spend a lot of money while they're in town. -ac

Mayor Bloomberg: "I Think It's Gonna Be Great for the City"

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Andy meets Mayor Bloomberg as he chats with a reporter about his impressions of The Gates and unfurling the first gate.

Random Conversations at the Unfurling

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Andy walks amongst the crowd that gathered for the official unfurling, talking to visitors and volunteers, including a group from San Diego that previously attended Christo's wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin.

A Haunting Orange

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It's two minutes after the first unfurling and the crowd is shifting to the right each time a new flag is unfurled. "They now have four of them unfurled and they're just about to unfurl a fifth one.... The flags themselves are beautiful... The sun is directly behind one of them right now and so it's glowing a haunting orange."

Crispy Creme Donuts, Hot Chocolate and Golden Retrievers

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Andy finally stumbles upon the official unveiling of The Gates, where hundreds of people are waiting for the first flag to be unfurled.

Getting My Bearings in Central Park

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Andy arrives at the southern end of Central Park, a few minutes before 8am.

"I'm now standing below one of over seven thousands gates scattered throughout the park.... I'm just gonna stroll around for a while and get my bearings."

A Very Gramercy Breakfast

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Eating breakfast at the Gramercy Cafe 90 minutes prior to the official kick-off of The Gates.