Turning Central Park Orange

[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.

[BFrank]

Relax, mailman! It's only up for 2 weeks. B-)

Not like it's a permanent thing.......and very few would be using the park this time of year, anyway.

[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.
  

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

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).

You don't say? Sounds incredibly handy! Say, Chris, while you're out and about the next couple of days taking snapshots of Christo's chiffon, mind if I have Ludmilla go to work on my Mercedes for a bit? I'm looking at a slow leak in the steering gear box, another in the steering shock absorber and a tiny one somewhere in the transmission area. If she could bleed the steering system, replace the gear box, the steering shock, a trans connector, a couple of seal rings ....and perform a quick 4 wheel alignment, I'd be eternally grateful. Shouldn't take more than 5 or 6 hours tops.

Edited February 13, 2005 by Son-of-a-Weizen

[Sahara Blue Orchestra]

Sorry to say, but from the photos looks like a high school Cross Country race sponsored by the X Games.

Hope it looks better in person.

Weizen:

Hope your Volvo-driving neighbors can give you a good report as well. But are you sure it wasn't just the wine talking about them going???

[Cali]

The close-up shot looks breathtakingly beautiful...

Looks beautiful to me, also.

Like The Running Fence in northern California in the 70's, I believe the esthetics of The Gates are affected by the light at different times of day, the wind (movement), and perspective influenced by relative distance to the design.

There was much criticism of Christo's Running Fence, initially. Then after it was completed it was widely hailed by most, including people who opposed it in the beginning. Residents of the area still treasure their saved swatches of the material. I was fortunate enough to see it and it was breathtaking when the sun reflected off it as it ran for mile after shimmering mile.

Give it time. Sometimes we have to live with an idea a while before we can see with new eyes. Then again, maybe not.

I like the color. I think it brings energy to an otherwise gray landscape at this time of the year.

[brownie]

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.

Noj, I am comfortable with that. But still waiting to be really impressed by this Central Park adventure.

I liked what Christo did with the Pont-Neuf in Paris several years ago. Went to see it a couple of times, then walked further to the Louvre museum which was close by to really get my eyes full.

Hope the people that crowd Central Park will also walk the distance to the MoMA and check some of the works there. Hope the Mark Rothkos get as much attention as Christo!

[rostasi]

Hope the Mark Rothkos get as much attention as Christo!

Funny that you mentioned Rothko and Christo together.

I was talking on the phone with a friend yesterday morning about

art works that are supposed to be a part of "permanent" collections,

but are often put away in some back room of an art museum.

He commented that when he came here to Texas (from Köln),

he travelled to Houston's "Rothko Chapel" to see the works,

but it was closed due to renovation. But he could see this huge pile

of wrapped material that was covered in gypsum with the word "ROTHKO"

written in large letters on it. I commented that maybe Christo was there first.

Rothko Wrapped

Rod

---

Now playing: Bernard Parmegiani - Exercisme 3

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Where's Willie Davenport when you need him?

(and don't say laying on the "couch")

[Man with the Golden Arm]

while looking thru the "Recorded On This Day" thread I see where the whole thing started!

[RonF]

Thanks Chris and everyone for the photos. I just saw a nice piece on CBS Sunday Morning. That's about as close as I'm going to get to Central Park. I think The Gates are magnificent. Boy, do I envy you New Yorkers. B-)

[ejp626]

It's pretty interesting up close, but mostly due to the scale. It really helps outline the immensity of Central Park and all its trails when you see the gates criss-cross in the distance.

They were unfurling these things in teams all over the park in the morning, and there were still some to be unfurled by the early afternoon. It was kind of funny, since they pulled on this tab (with a long pole) and the material unrolled and a cardboard tube dropped out. Then the wrapper and the tube were put into a bag (probably to be sold on-line later). All the while there were people taking pictures and probably some teams were filmes for a documentary. Probably there will be pictures of this procedure for every one of the 15,000 gates. It did feel a little cult-like so I moved on. There were many people out walking through the park, and that was great. The numbers are way up for a cold afternoon.

Best of all, if you ran into a Gates volunteer and were nice to them, you got a small 2 inch square piece of the fabric used in the Gates. I managed to get one (no it's not for sale) and it is basically orange with some yellow in it if you turn it in the light.

[Jim Alfredson]

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.

It's called vision. I guess some people just don't get it.

I think it's beautiful.

[Soul Stream]

Thanks Chris and everyone for the photos. I just saw a nice piece on CBS Sunday Morning. That's about as close as I'm going to get to Central Park. I think The Gates are magnificent. Boy, do I envy you New Yorkers. B-)

My thoughts exactly. I'd love to see the gates and then slip on over to Birdland to see Lou Donaldson. Damn!

[RonF]

.....and then slip on over to Birdland to see Lou Donaldson.  Damn!

My thought exactly!

[BFrank]

After I get back from NYC next week, I'll try to post some pix.....assuming everyone isn't sick to death of it by then.

[Jim Alfredson]

All right, so my wife and I are seriously thinking about flying into NYC this Tuesday to see this, since she loves Christo and we deserve a little mini-vacation.

Who wants to hang?

[Peter Johnson]

Hey Jim--I'm coming out Thursday and will be hitting New York with Gail on Saturday during the day, and going to the Lou/Lonnie show that night. Please post your plans if you decide to go!

[Randy Twizzle]

"WAKE me when these hideous things are gone!" One NY columnist is unimpressed, I guess she lacks the vision thing

http://www.nypost.com/commentary/21923.htm

[Jim Alfredson]

"WAKE me when these hideous things are gone!"  One NY columnist is unimpressed, I guess she lacks the vision thing

http://www.nypost.com/commentary/21923.htm

That columnist is a moron. No talent? No skill? Has she seen Christo's paintings? They are beautiful. In fact, his paintings of the proposed "Gates" project are even more beautiful than the result. I love it when people talk about something that they know nothing about.

It's like the report on 60 Minutes last night... they showed some footage from an old documentary on Christo and Jean-Claude where some hilljack was saying, "I could hang a rag on a string and call it art. That's art? I bet he can't even paint a picture."

As if one has to be able to paint to call it art, but even beside that ridiculous statement, yes he can paint and his paintings are gorgeous.

Some people just don't get it. How sad.

[BFrank]

Why did Morley Safer insist on calling them "the Christos"? Christo is his first name.

[maren]

"WAKE me when these hideous things are gone!" One NY columnist is unimpressed, I guess she lacks the vision thing

http://www.nypost.com/commentary/21923.htm

Andrea PEYSER??? The New York POST???

Puh-LEEZ!