The Gates @ Central Park

The Emperor's New Gates

2005-03-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

We all know art is to a great degree a matter of taste -- and the appreciation of it can vary widely from individual to individual. But even with all that leeway, not everything is art. Sometimes, the emperor is really just naked after all.

February Gates Visitor

It's a Wrap!

2005-03-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

Well, the Gates have come and gone; some people think it was an artistic triumph and a boon for New York; others think it was a crock and a waste of resources. Here's another chance to tell us what you think; I'll be locking up the website at the end of March so we can preserve the comments posted to it during the project, but in the meantime, you're welcome to reply to this post using the comments feature or post new comments of your own. -ac

The Gates are NOT closed yet

2005-03-02T20:45:00.000-05:00

March 1, 2005
As of yesterday, the "Gates" are officially closed. Reality looks
different! The dismantling of the gates takes a long time; it started at
the Northern end of Central Park, i.e. in Harlem. The Southern end is
still untouched and will be for quite some time. A walk through the
"Gates" is now more beautiful than ever. There are no tourists and,
apart from a few dogwalkers, no New Yorkers in the park. Hotels are
empty and more affordable than during the show. It is THE OCCASION to
have the "Gates" all to yourself without masses of people taking
millions of pictures. ENJOY THE GATES!

From
noli@ticino.com

three blog posts about the Gates

2005-02-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

I'm a blogger living in New Hampshire. Last weekend I traveled to
NYC to see the Gates with three other bloggers, and here are links to
my illustrated posts about the experience:

Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3

Enjoy!

--L

================================
Lorianne DiSabato
http://www.hoardedordinaries.com

Snowy Gates, Part Deux

2005-02-26T13:03:00.000-05:00

Since my lame attempt at HTML (below) failed, let's try again -- for lots of photos of the Gates from my snowy day in Central Park yesterday, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qarvin/

Snowy Gates

2005-02-26T07:28:00.000-05:00

In case you haven’t seen enough pictures of the gates in the snow, I spent the whole afternoon in Central Park with a camera and I’ve posted several<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/qarvin/"> photos on flickr</a>. Enjoy. --Eric Carvin

Past The Gates Video

2005-02-26T05:01:00.000-05:00

Action footage :

http://www.pastthegates.com

Ride the Gates - video via Bike - Cam

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My experience at The Gates

2005-02-26T01:16:00.000-05:00

I lived in NY for 25 years, until 1997 when I moved to the San Francisco
Bay Area. I come back from time to time, but having missed California's
Running Fence, I wanted to return for The Gates. Here's the report I sent
to my teen-age son.

When I first saw it, driving by Saturday night in a cab, I wasn't
impressed. I thought I wouldn't like it. It looked industrial, like
someone had installed a factory in a landscape. Then later, when I walked
around at night, I still wasn't crazy about it. But I did realize it made
me look at Central Park differently. I was aware of how the paths snaked
around, and where all the trees were. I did notice lots of people walking
around, which is rare in February, but even rarer on a 20 degree night.

Sunday, I got up and at 8:30 I took a cab up to 100th Street to run with an
old friend. Driving up Central Park West, the orange banners flapping in
the wind seemed bright and cheerful, like pieces of sunshine.Then when I
was standing around waiting for my friend, I got to walk around and under
the gates, and it made me a little happy.They're really solidly engineered,
indestructible, with a pretty light fabric that billows in the wind.
Sometimes I could can stand in a place and see them going off in every
direction. They made a gray/brown park feel a bit summery. That night it
snowed; the next day, against a white background, they still stood out
brightly.

So I decided I liked The Gates as objects and images. But what really made
me like them more was three other unique ingredients.

First, people. The avenues are teeming, with everyone out on the streets
around the park, strolling, gawking, smiling. Lots of people with cameras,
mostly digital. Not just the out-of-towners. Today everyone is a tourist,
posing and snapping away, playing and looking at their pictures.

Second is the fact that it's the free expression of art, it's almost all
volunteer, and its meaning is whatever the participant sees in it. It
doesn't cost the city a penny: the $20 million cost is financed by the sale
of the artist's drawings. In fact it's a big money-maker for the city,
especially the hotels and restaurants, during the slowest month of the
year. Even the cynics were taken aback by a sign at the tables where
T-shirts, posters and post-cards were on sale: "Christo and Jeanne-Claude
will not derive any income from the sale of The Gates Merchandise. Proceeds
will benefit Nurture New York's Nature Inc. and the Arts, Central Park and
other New York City Parks."

Third, the vision. I think how it took Christo and Jeanne-Claude 26 years
to make this happen. They never gave up, they kept changing the plan to
meet objections and satisfy all the different decision-makers. It was their
Moby-Dick, the whale they never stopped looking for, and knew they would
someday meet. In the end, they got lucky: all the chips fell in their
favor. But they made it happen. It's really amazing to me that they were
able to realize their dream, and bring pleasure to so many people. Some of
the people who aim high succeed, and that's inspiring to me as I try in my
own way to change the world.

Felix Kramer http://www.calcars.org

The Gates

2005-02-25T00:34:00.000-05:00

I am sorry, but the Gates are just really ugly. Even in the snow they are ugly. The color is all wrong, it just looks like construction. A complete waste of money. A total publicity stunt. Just awful and ugly. I think the only way it would look good would be to set fire to it!!

The Gates suck!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Anderson

An Amazing Experience

2005-02-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

I will be uploading my photos from the past three days of visiting NYC and seeing/photographing the Gates all three days, though not as many shots as I might have liked due to camera battery issues, but amongst my shots there are a few I'm proud up - will upload them to Flickr and share links to them here.

Overall a very amazing experience - in no small part due to the thousands, probably millions over the past few weeks, of people visiting them. Even today, amidst the snow and ice the park was full, cameras were everywhere, and business throughout NYC was showing the effects - hotels were full, restaurants packed, vendors in and around the park doing well - the zoo packed, lines around the block for the MoMa, even the Guggenheim in the midst of tearing down an exhibition (so having more then 50% of the museaum closed) was packed.

The gates themselves initially do not seem like much, each, individually is orange - but over time, as the light and wind, and as you walk along and amidst the park and realize that each gate's position was carefully chosen and thought out - each part of the park is different yet beautiful, with vistas and images that reoccur throughout the park, yet differ as well.

If you are lucky, as we were, and get to a section of the park full of gates, but relatively empty of people, you can hear the gates flapping in the wind. When the sun was out and the sky clear, the gates are each slightly transparent, and full of shadows, shadows of other gates, of trees, of park objects, fences, even people at a distance.

The gates themselves are also getting incorporated into the life of the park - from children playing on the stands, leaving behind collections of pine cones or a lost mitten, to dogs marking their territory. They are for this month at least, part of the life of the city - and people came from all over the world to view them.

Shannon Clark
http://searchingforthemoon.blogspot.com

Young Artist Creates "Duplo Gates"

2005-02-22T03:20:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-22T02:45:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

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."

Christo in Crawford? First Lady wants artist to 'wrap the ranch'

2005-02-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

Christo in Crawford? Texas Town in Knots over First Lady's Plan to 'Wrap the Ranch'

First lady Laura Bush was reportedly so taken with "The Gates," the epic project installed in New York's Central Park by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, that she has asked the pair to consider Crawford, TX, as the site of their next installation. The idea: wrap the Bush's 1600 acre ranch in eight miles of camouflage fabric.

http://swiftreport.blogs.com/news/2005/02/christo_in_craw.html#more

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On the lighter side...

2005-02-21T04:01:00.000-05:00

A somewhat smaller-scale gates project in Somerville, Mass.:

http://www.not-rocket-science.com/gates.htm

Eric's Pictures

2005-02-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

A series of photos from The Gates by Eric Carvin.

Against the trend

2005-02-19T17:39:00.000-05:00

After everyone I know went to see The Gates and described their reaction to
me in great detail, I went before work yesterday. In New York, among my
peers (all around 30 and involved in the art world in one way or another) it
is almost de rigueur to hate The Gates. But for me, the idea of The Gates is
what art can be at it's best: public, accessible and universal. After I saw
The Gates, I believe it is all those things.

The piece is successful because it transforms Central Park into an art
object. I like The Gates the most in the deep ancient dark parts of the
Park, where there are no roads, only narrow paths and tall trees. I also
like standing on top of hills and seeing the orange color snake through the
park. I do not like the saffron color though. To me, the saffron is like the
safety orange/yellow of construction sites, a color that is very prominent
in New York City already.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A Bit Underwhelming, but a Spectacle Nonetheless

2005-02-19T09:34:00.000-05:00

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."

Delightful!

2005-02-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a resounding yes-vote for your blogger site on Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates, Central Park 1979-2005. My sister-in-law and I wandered the Park yesterday (2-17) for two+ hours, and the installation is delightful! We started at Columbus Circle and walked up along the 6th Ave thru-street (stopping to climb rocks and bridges) to the Carousel, rode the flying horses, went on up to Bethesda Fountain, and returned past the bandshell to CC via the Hecksher ball fields. We decided the central motif was change: changing aspects, changing colors, changing sounds, all ephemeral. There was little sun, but with a glint the curtains turned a bright translucent orange in the gray landscape; sometimes they hung still in a vista of drapes and sometimes they flapped smartly in a breeze. In one place, we seemed to be covered in them; in another (looking back) they suddenly went marching off in different directions. And above all, they create a social context-dozens of people were walking through the Gates, all with cameras, and we were talking to each other and taking each other's picture by the time we got a few yards inside the park. In the rain the day before, one group said, all the puddles reflected the orange of the curtains, so they were walking through mirror-images. For people yet to visit: It is helpful to bring a park map (e.g. Flashmaps).

Gates Fotolog

2005-02-18T11:39:00.000-05:00

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

Kids in the park

2005-02-18T00:48:00.000-05:00

Before work on Wednesday, I met up with a colleague and we walked in
the northern half of the park, entering at 103rd St & Central Park
West, wending our way around to Harlem Meer and the Conservatory
Garden and out on the East Side somewhere near El Museo del Barrio.

It was warm and the sun occasionally peeked out from the overcast
sky. We didn't see too many people around at first, just the odd
jogger or tourist. But then there were kids. Hundreds of them.
Elementary school, middle school, and high school. All over the park.

What a great field trip. Definitely better than gym class.

- Park Visitor

Bravo Christo & Jeanne Claude!

2005-02-17T14:40:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Last Saturday we arrived at the park at 8:30 a.m. just off 72nd street entrance to one of the many informal unfurling ceremonies happening at the same time. At that moment, le raison d’être became so very clear. I understood Christo, Jeanne-Claude, their dedication to their art, relentless drive and vision and was quite touched by the culmination of their hard work, a gift to New York. It didn’t seem to matter anymore that we missed an official unfurling with Bloomberg, media, et al.

After 911, the war with Afghanistan & Iraq and the election of 2004, why let the media convolute and interpret the meaning of art for me. Why answer their question when asked what it means-Bravo Jeanne-Claude! Hearing people talk on that first day of the Gates, it seemed that they meant many things to many people. For some it meant shedding memories of 911, and others, a diversion from the war and media, but to us, it was all about birth, life and living life again through our newborn son, Nickcho.

For the next two weeks, Christo rules New York. Let him do for people, what others have promised and have not yet delivered. Thank you Christo & Jeanne-Claude.

Pamukoff

Jason Block's Photos

2005-02-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

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

Gates Events?

2005-02-17T10:56:00.000-05:00

Does anyone know of any special Gates-related events or tours of Central
Park? I think I heard there was going to be a walk-through by a group of
Buddhist monks next week, but I don't know the details.

Important: Please Limit Your Photo Uploads

2005-02-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

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

Connection Between Gates and Canopies for First Night 78?

2005-02-17T09:14:00.000-05:00

Canopies for First Night 78 copyright Hera January 1, 1978
2 canopies 250' long x 10' wide commissioned by First Night
nylon spinnaker cloth procession rehearsal on Boston Common

A couple of months ago I spoke to Christo when he was giving a talk at
Cooper Union. I asked him when he designed the Gates. His answer was
1979. Then I asked if he remembered seeing my "Canopies for First Night
78" at Midnight on the Boston Common January 1, 1978, and if he
remembered asking me questions about how I "made them work." He was
unwilling to answer my questions and hurried away....The truth of the
matter is that he was (to put it tactfully) inspired by seeing the Canopies.

In today's art world, people do not acknowledge sources for their work
as was the tradition in the arts for centuries. I have discussed this
with artists and critics, supporters and friends. The last artist that
they remember giving attribution was De Kooning. At their encouragement,
I am sending images of the source of Christo's piece (the "Canopies for
First Night 78") to appropriate critics.

Christo's Gates are a static take-off from the fluidity of the two 250'
long 10' wide nylon spinnaker cloth Canopies which I designed. This
stasis is predictable when one takes a design which was meant for fluid
movement and makes it stationary. On First Night the Canopies were
carried from two different directions to meet at the Boston Common at
midnight. They were a huge hit. Revelers were so eager to be a part of
the action that they took the Canopies away from the 60 bearers I had
chosen, and carried the Canopies themselves. There were thousands of
people on the Common that night. The Canopies were written up in all the
Boston papers, Time magazine, and by Lucy Lippard in the November 1981
issue of Art in America: "Another outlet is the community festival like
those...by Hera, whose First Night '78 consisted of a canopied sculpture
accompanied by a torchlit procession through the Boston Common on New
Year's Eve..."

In 1982 Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis wrote a 251 page official
refusal to have The Gates based on solid environmental concerns. Our
current political climate admires business and development. In this
atmosphere The Gates are more acceptable. The great part of the appeal
of The Gates lies in the huge publicity effort Bloomberg has carried
out. As we know all too well, people are much more comfortable going
with a name brand.

As a responsible artist who believes in attribution of artistic sources,
I feel it is appropriate for Christo to credit the Canopies for First
Night '78 as the source of his inspiration. Anyone is free to use the
enclosed photo if attribution is given: "The Canopies for First Night
78" copyright Hera 1978... designer/sculptor/procession leader.
Thanks for your interest.

Please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions you may have.

Hera
145 Cold Brook Road
Bearsville, NY 12409
hera @ netstep.net
(845) 679-4439 vox
(845) 679-4441 fax
http://www.hera-sculpture.com

Andy's Lame QTVR Gates Experiment

2005-02-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

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

Fullscreen QTVR Panorama

2005-02-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

Hi,
panoramas.dk now has a fullscreen QTVR
from the Gates

direct link

Hans Nyberg
commercial photographer
hans nyberg fotografi

Virtual Slideshows from The Gates

2005-02-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

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

Nightline on The Gates Fri., February 11th

2005-02-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

From Nightline's email newsletter:

THE GATES, CENTRAL PARK

Feb. 11, 2005

You may have heard of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, but if
not, perhaps you remember the wrapped Reichstag in Germany, the 1,600
yellow umbrellas dotting the California mountainside, or, the islands
off of Miami surrounded with flamingo pink floating fabric. On
Saturday, the artists will finally realize their 19th project: The
Gates, Central Park.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are, if nothing else, unique.
Jeanne-Claude, with her fire orange hair, speaks in tandem with her
husband, often interrupting to finish a thought. Born on the same day
in 1935, they live and work in their five-story studio residence in
lower Manhattan, which also serves as a gallery for the sale of
Christo's preparatory works.

Interested in a small collage of The Gates? $20,000. The largest?
$600,000. But Christo and Jeanne-Claude do not drive around in fancy
cars, wear expensive clothes, nor do they seem to indulge frequently
in many of the expected luxuries money can provide. But they are far
from spendthrifts. If you live in New York, you may have already seen
the beginnings of their current $21 million expenditure: 7,500
saffron-colored rectangular arches, called Gates, are now installed
along 23 miles of Central Park's pathways. And Saturday morning,
fabric panels of the same color will be unfurled from their velcro
cocoons, creating an even greater explosion of color in the midst of
the park's normally subdued February landscape.

The Gates have been for the artists a 26-year pursuit; they first
proposed the project in 1979. At that time, however, Central Park,
like much of New York City, was in a state of disrepair. But New York
is not the only thing that has changed since the artists began
dreaming of The Gates. The Gates, too, have changed, and the artists
have their engineer, Vince Davenport, to thank. He has overseen the
details of their project and made their lofty vision, which he's
called a "logistical nightmare," come to life.

Regardless of whether you enjoy their art or not, you can't deny the
Herculean effort by a cast of literally thousands required to make
this project a reality. The artists enlisted the work of seven
different manufacturers on the East Coast, a fabric company in
Germany, and hired almost 600 workers for the final installation of
The Gates. And, all those strolling through Christo's Gates in Central
Park over the next 16 days ... they, too, will be part of this public
work of art.

"Nightline" has followed the artists and watched the logistics of the
massive project progress over the last nine months. Tonight, we'll
bring you a slice of the artists' lives, as we preview The Gates.

We hope you'll join us.

Courtney King & the "Nightline" Staff
ABC News Washington Bureau

-----------------------------------------------
Steve Rhodes

It can't be a coincindence

2005-02-15T06:16:00.000-05:00

I saw The Gates on TV and thought that they had to be inspired by Fushimi
Inari Taisha in Kyoto. I was there this fall and it was one of my best
finds!

An instant classic

2005-02-15T01:39:00.000-05:00

Fancying a role as this blog's resident curmudgeon, (Wait -- I'm not
cute enough to be a curmudgeon!) I thought I'd try to elucidate what
bugs me some much about this project.

For one, though his defenders won't see it or at least admit it, there's
a dangerously bloated ego that propels these visions. It is all too self
consciously screaming, "I am an artist and I make great art."

Next, and arising of this same self-consciousness, comes a feeling of
forced myth making. Like someone sitting down trying to write the Great
American Novel. They'll compare this to the Great Wall, Stonehenge, or
other time proven
mythology, but I'm sorry to disappoint you folks, but one can't be
present at
the birth of a classic. It's logistically impossible. I guess it comes
out of the need to be part of a defining event, but it sounds to me like
when Disney puts "Classic" on the cover of a DVD of a movie that was
released last year.

And last, it's so damned ugly! Yes it is. Maybe it will be better with
flags hanging, but these "three mile orange" plastic pillars taking over
the brilliant vistas of the park are like the fast food joints alongside
Stonehenge or the Starbucks they put inside the Forbidden City. Yes,
it's helping me appreciate the park more because I can't wait
for it to be out of here so I can see it aqain!

----------------------------------------

After a very politically charged year in this city, maybe a little Art
for Art's Sake is needed. But I can't forget that our mayor has let this
project take over the entire park, after he denied us the right to
protest there last year.

We love Art for Art's sake!
It's smart for Art's sake,
To part, for Art's sake,
With your heart, for Art's sake,
And your mind, for Art's sake-
Be blind, for Art's sake,
And deaf, for Art's sake,
And dumb, for Art's sake,
Until, for Art's sake,
They kill, for Art's sake,
All the Art for Art's sake!
-from Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock

Another visitor

The Orange Fabric, Up Close and Personal

2005-02-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

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.

Pictures I took this morning

2005-02-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures I took this morning of The Gates. It was
pretty crowded today, and hopefully the crowds will thin out later in
the month and I can go back at a more leisurely pace.

Kevin Meyers
http://kevinmeyers.blogspot.com

Videos from Opening Weekend

2005-02-14T17:04:00.000-05:00

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

Enjoy... -andy

Harvey's Latest Photos

2005-02-14T14:21:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-14T12:36:00.000-05:00

"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

2005-02-14T11:05:00.000-05:00

"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

2005-02-14T09:09:00.000-05:00

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"

2005-02-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

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."

2005-02-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

"This Is Not My Color,"

2005-02-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

says a woman.

Two Italians

2005-02-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

are carrying Gates-colored bags.

A Couple With an iPod Shuffle

2005-02-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

take a picture with the shuffle and the Gates.

The Christo People Have Tennis Balls

2005-02-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

On the ends of long, extendable prods.

Can I make a plug for my blog with pictures of the past few "Gates" days?

2005-02-13T15:07:00.000-05:00

Andy

Great idea, your blog. Do you make money off of it?

I took three sets of pictures. They can be found at my blog:

http://calitoves.blogspot.com

Do you mind posting?

This is a magic experience. I am psyched.

Catharina Torok

p.s. All photos on my blog may not be used or copied without my permission.

"A Higher Than Average Number"

2005-02-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

of Europeans in Central Park.

"All The Flags Are Radiating Orange."

2005-02-13T12:17:00.000-05:00

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

Email Backup Address

2005-02-13T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. Blogger is still being very troublesome posting emails in a timely fashion. To get around this, please cc all of your emails to thegates @ yahoogroups.com so we can receive them directly and post them manually if necessary. I've emailed Blogger about the problem; hopefully it will be fixed soon. -ac

Harvey B.Silikovitz Photos

2005-02-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

A series of photos courtesy of Harvey B. Silikovitz.

Billowing Sails

Bethesda Fountain

Layers

Unveiled

Orange Waterfall

Looking Down on Harlem Meer

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

2005-02-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-13T09:03:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

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

Yes He Does

2005-02-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

I don't think that grand size is the point of Christo's art.

I think a primary objective is getting the public to see things
differently when a monument/landscape that has become
an institutional part of society's vision is temporarily
concealed or altered. I think that's a pretty brilliant idea.

I know many people who, like you, think this is a crazy
waste of money when there is so much need in the world.
In some ways, I agree. However, there is a lot of wealth
in the world that could be redirected and isn't, and unfortunately
probably never will be. Christo not realizing his vision wouldn't
change that. To the extent that his art challenges people
to look at the world more closely and maybe differently, I
think its brilliant and deserving of its place.

I hope The Gates is so amazing that you'll get a little bit
converted!

Sarah Van Norden
Health & Human Development Programs
Educational Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street
Newton, Massachusetts 02458-1060
Phone (617) 618-2333

Visiting from Chicago

2005-02-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

An elderly couple from Chicago talk about visiting The Gates.

Volunteers Have All the Fun

2005-02-12T15:21:00.000-05:00

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

Loving Public Art

2005-02-12T15:08:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T12:44:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T10:20:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T10:07:00.000-05:00

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

Mayor Bloomberg Chats with the Crowd

2005-02-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

Andy sees Mayor Bloomberg chat with visitors.

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

2005-02-12T08:53:00.000-05:00

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"

2005-02-12T08:49:00.001-05:00

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

2005-02-12T08:37:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T08:15:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T07:52:00.000-05:00

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

2005-02-12T07:02:00.000-05:00

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

Andy Arrives in NYC

2005-02-11T19:37:00.000-05:00

Andy finally arrives in New York for his weekend exploration of The Gates; heading down to Curry Row for dinner.

Please Post Smaller Photos and Pace Yourself :-)

2005-02-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

The website is posting new entries very slowly right now, possibly because people are posting very large photos, sometimes several in a single email. This appears to be overwhelming the posting mechanism. Because of this, I'd like to make this request regarding photos:

Please post only one photo at a time
Please try to post smaller photos (800x800 or smaller)
Please pace yourself and don't send multiple emails with photos at the simultaneously

I've contacted Blogger and informed them of the situation, so hopefully they can help speed things up. Meanwhile, the audio blogging feature seems to be working just fine, so I'd like to encourage you to post voicemails to the site. Simply follow the instructions on the right side of the page.

Time for me to head into NYC. Can't wait to get there.... -andy

The Gates Will Be a Visceral Experience

2005-02-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Anticipation...

2005-02-11T09:15:00.000-05:00

Susanne and I will be heading to NYC later today for tomorrow's unfurling. Apparently the official kickoff will be 8:30am tomorrow. Is anyone else planning to make a trip to New York just to visit The Gates? I'm starting to get really excited.... -ac

Precedent for The Gates?

2005-02-09T23:39:00.000-05:00

Walking around Central Park last night, I finally realized what The Gates reminds me of. Just outside Kyoto, there's a Shinto shrine (Shinto is the native Japanese religion, it coexists with Buddhism) called Fushimi Inari Taisha, where it's been a tradition for centuries to donate a gate (called a torii) to the shrine in thanks for good fortune. The bright vermillion
gates are set up along paths that wind up and down a hillside behind theshrine itself. The effect is very dramatic, and in many ways strikingly similar to The Gates, minus the fabric, anyway.

See this link to japan-guide.com for a description and some photos of Fushimi Inari Taisha. This blog entry has some great photos too. I wonder if Christo and Jeanne-Claude have ever been there...

-Joe

aerial view 2: Gates and skates

2005-02-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Looking down on Wollman Rink.

Photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz, taken on February 9, 2005.

aerial view 1

2005-02-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

with the Time Warner Center and the Trump International Tower in the background.

Photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz; taken February 9, 2005.

Blog Coverage in Today's NY Times, Wired

2005-02-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

The blog got a nice boost in site traffic today because of references in today's New York Times and Wired magazine. Wired even featured some of the photos posted on the site. Hopefully the press will help send more contributors to the site as well.... -ac

Near the Pool at 102nd Street

2005-02-09T15:46:00.000-05:00

More photos at http://www.walknyc.com/gates.htm

Post a Voicemail to the Site!

2005-02-09T15:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

The posts to the blog have really been great. I love all the photos - keep 'em coming - and the discussion thread about the value of public art has been fascinating.

I just want to remind everyone that you can all post voice messages to the blog. I've set it up so that you can call a phone number, record a voicemail, and have it posted automatically to the site.

Here are the instructions for posting voicemail to the site. Give it a try when you get a chance!

1. Dial 1 - 661- 716 - BLOG (2564)

2. Enter the telephone login 212-555-1212

3. Enter the PIN code 2005, then the # key

4. Record your message, then hit the # key when you're done

5. Press "1" to post your recording to the website

I really hope that some of you will copy down the instructions and post messages from Central Park - it would be wonderful to capture the sound of the crowds, the trees, the wind.

Hope to hear from of you soon.... -andy

The emperor has no clothes.

2005-02-09T13:43:00.000-05:00

For years I have watched with amazement at the attention this artist
gets.
Isn't there one person out there who is also stupefied by the utter
banality of these projects?
I know the size is the point, but the this rampant, "just because I can"
justification that screams out from these absurdities strikes me as just
so misguided.

I know he finances it himself, and I know he has the right to do what he
wants with his dough, but damn I could think of a lot better things one
could do with $20 million bucks.

I have been watching it go up in the park for weeks. Still willing to be
converted when they are unfurled. But I am skeptical.

Isn't anyone else?
___________________

Dutch Gates Site

2005-02-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

Hey,
your Gates Blogspot is great.
As a volunteer far away from New York
I make at home in Ghent, Belgium,
the Dutch Gates site.
Your site has a nice link on my
christolinks-page.
Have a look to the Dutch site:
http://users.telenet.be/juliens/xtojc

Greetings from Ghent
Julien

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

At Last!

2005-02-09T11:48:00.000-05:00

Way back when Christo and Jeanne-Claude first wanted to do this, my dentist (and his?!) Richard Stern gave me a postcard he had gotten of the proposed design…I have held on to it (along with the postcard for the Pont-Neuf wrapping) and at last I am going to see their dream come true ! Can’t wait!

Annette Shear

Bridal Consultant

Tiffany & Co.

Telephone: 212/605-4170

Fax: 212/605-4356

e-mail: annette.shear@tiffany.com

The Spirit of the Gates

2005-02-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Andy,

We would like to let everyone know about an event in conjunction with Christo’s Gates. We would be most appreciative if you could post it on your website. Thanks so much.

Spirit of the Gates
ALL ARE WELCOME
Monday, February 21
2:00-4:00 PM
Free Meet at 72nd Street and Fifth Ave.
Presented by the Interfaith Center of New York, the Tricycle Foundation and the NY Buddhist Council

In the spirit of fellowship, Buddhist monks dressed in their traditional saffron robes and leaders from diverse religious traditions will lead a silent meditative walk beginning on the east side of the park at 72nd Street, heading north, circling around the Great Lawn through the saffron veiled walkways of Christo’s Gates. The Gates will only be up for only 16 days in February and this is a wonderful chance to experience this special event. The procession will end with a short interdenominational service at 72nd and Central Park West just before 4:00 PM.
--
Seiko Susan Morningstar
Development Associate
Tricycle
92 Vandam Street
New York, NY 10013
212-645-1143 EXT 220

orange tunnel

2005-02-09T10:26:00.000-05:00

The gates appear as an orange yet transparent tunnel, linking the Loeb
Boathouse and Bethesda Terrace.

Photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz, taken (as were all of my photos
posted here so far) on February 8, 2005. Please do not re-use without
permission.

Photos - Tuesday Feb. 9

2005-02-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

There is already a palpable sense of energy and enchantment in the
park. An unexpected feeling is one of community. The gates seem engaged
in a stately dialogue with each other, and strangers stop and talk in
wonder about the artful aliens in their midst.

Please credit photos to Scot Surbeck

early installation preparations

2005-02-09T09:27:00.000-05:00

Written Jan. 21, 2005-just found this site today.

We have been watching from our window with some interest the installation of the supports for the gates and what I now find are orange place markers, marching up the stairs at Strangers Gate like implacable orange samurai.

Last week on that marvelously warm foggy night we ducked into the Park across from the Dakota, taking the long way home.

I note with approval the absence of supports (at least at that time) in Strawberry Fields. It is wrapped in its own saffron veils, though I think John would have loved it.

We considered (my husband went to MIT, after all) the composition and weight of the palettes, and the need for a design that would make them easy to stack and place, yet worthless as bookshelves. And, as the snow outside falls, the matte gray tops of the palettes takes the snow as smoothly as the matte gray boulders along the walkway that sweeps down from the Great Hill.

The orange cones now clearly have nothing to do with the odious traffic cones that at first glanced they resemble. No, these are small Eiffelian lattice-works, tiny towers dressed for hunting season.

They are, indeed, orange. But something has to hold things up and it can't collect either wind or moisture and people must under no circumstances either fall on them or steal them.

We can't imagine how they'll keep the gates from blowing away or becoming torn (and if they have so much sturdy fabric, don't people need sarongs?) but then that thought of saving tsunami victims gave way to mental projections of the sensation of being enrobed in this project when it is completed.

We walked up the path next to the lake and imagined the gates installed about us, billowing sails of gold, and I almost hummed with the prospect of such joy.

Cristo and Jeanne-Claude have wrapped other places. This time, it seems, they are wrapping the people of New York City as they walk these paths. I, for one, can't wait!

Parsons McComb

The gates!

2005-02-09T07:47:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Congratulations on another memorable installation. I had a friend who
flew over the pink islands in Miami, and he said it was something he
would never forget. Although I will not actually see the gates in
Central Park, I see them in my imagination, and they are beautiful. I
am a painter, and I studied your work at university. I have followed
your work over the past years and I admire your energy and your
innovation.

Thank you for all your fine efforts.

Best wishes,

Fran Barrineau
Ashburn, Virginia

some of the gates are wider than others

2005-02-09T04:05:00.000-05:00

photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz

up it goes

2005-02-09T02:50:00.000-05:00

photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz

a work in progress

2005-02-09T02:45:00.000-05:00

photograph by Harvey B. Silikovitz

photographs: the raising of the Gates

2005-02-09T02:23:00.000-05:00

copyright Harvey B. Silikovitz, February 8, 2005.

Please do not use these images for any purpose other than posting on the blog.

Fw: Up they go - one by one - #3

2005-02-08T23:29:00.000-05:00

Susan

Fw: Up they go - one by one - #2

2005-02-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

Susan

Up They Go - One by One #1

2005-02-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was a warm afternoon and all the "worker" were grinning and laughing - no snow in site.....

The Gates (a second attempt...)

2005-02-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

Photos taken between January 20 and February 8, 2005. More
photos at http://www.walknyc.com/gates.htm

Frames Go Up!

2005-02-08T15:35:00.000-05:00

Hey, You - Put Down That Orange Bracket!

2005-02-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you that there was one of those orange brackets lying on
the ground outside the Park and so I picked it up - rather attentively
and put it under my arm. I thought - I will send it to my 19 year old
niece in Toronto. I had lunch on Columbus Ave and was walking along with
a friend who is 85 afterwards and was hailed by a police loudspeaker
"hey you with the orange thing under your arm!!" I was instructed to
give it up to the police after much lecturing even though I explained
that the thing was lying in the road broken already. I suppose that they
had a point - but it amused my elderly friend who thought he might have
to post bail for me.

More Central Park Pics

2005-02-08T12:16:00.000-05:00

A few more pictures from the park.

Susan Love: second picture

2005-02-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

Susan Love

Susan Love: first picture

2005-02-07T17:46:00.000-05:00

The first in a series of pictures from Susan Love.