New York prepares for 23-mile long art installation
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...p/usnewyorkart

New York prepares to accept the 'Gates' of Christo and Jeanne-Claude

NEW YORK (AFP) - Work is on track in Central Park to prepare for the installation of "Gates," the latest project of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who, for two weeks, will cover the famous New York park with a blanket of saffron fabric.

The installation will offer New York the most gigantic work of art the city has ever seen.

With less than one month to go before the February 12-27 deployment of the sculpture, its lines are already marked with heavy steel bases intended to receive the 7,500 fabric gates which will curve along 37 kilometers of paths and create gold castings in the park.

For the moment, the park area resembles a worksite, with orange panels temporarily planted on each base.

Little by little the vinyl saffron posts will be assembled in coming days, then the fabrics will be hung to five meters in height. Early on the morning of February 12, 600 workers supervised by Christo will come to unroll the large saffron nylon panels.

The project is massive -- it is 23 miles long, 16 feet high and uses 1,089,882 square feet (101,250 square meters) of fabric and 4,799 tonnes of steel, about two-thirds of the steel in the Eiffel Tower.

For Christo and Jeanne-Claude, creators of famous installations around the Pont-Neuf of Paris (1985) or the Reichstag in Berlin (1995), this 19th project has a particular resonance.

"We are very happy to finally have a project in our city, where we have lived for 41 years, at the same address," Jeanne-Claude told AFP.

For her, the "Gates" are a "work of joy and beauty," "without another reason to be other than a work of art," with the colors intended to emphasize the park and the rectangular structures pointing out the geometry of the city.

Christo, an American from Bulgaria, and Jeanne-Claude, a Parisian born in Casablanca, were both born on June 13, 1935.

They have worked and lived together since they met in Paris in 1958. Arriving in New York in 1964, they wanted this year to wrap skyscrapers, then museums such as the Whitney or the Museum of Modern Art, in their fabric installations, but were unable to do so.

The "Gates" are themselves the result of 26 years of preparations, developments, meetings, and hopes often disappointed, such as when in 1981 the city government refused a license to proceed.

"One day a miracle arrived: a man, an old friend and a large fan of our projects, Michael Bloomberg, was elected mayor of New York. He loves and knows what is good for his city," said Jeanne-Claude.

Visitors from all over the world are expected to view the installation, and like all passers-by, will receive remembrances from a million samples of saffron distributed at the site.

Not everyone is happy with the project however.

The New York branch of the Sierra Club (news - web sites) environmental group worries about the effect the project will have on the 7,000 birds in the park and demanded without success that the city conduct an environmental impact study.

The city, for its part, hopes the artwork will generate some 80 million dollars in additional tourist revenue on a project that will not cost a dime.

The entire cost of between 20 million and 21 million dollars is being financed entirely by its creators, including safety and cleaning.

The artists are raising the money through the sale of preparatory drawings by Christo and of sketches of prior projects, such as the installation at the Pont-Neuf, the "Surrounded Islands" (Miami, 1983) or the "Valley Curtains" (Colorado, 1972).

"We'll sell all that we have, except our son," Jeanne-Claude said.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...tes_nyr111.jpg

wow...you don't think about something like this. must be interesting to look at.

I thought this was already started and done. Maybe it's just been in the news for a while that they were going to do it.

-Rudey

Re: New York prepares for 23-mile long art installation
 

Great, now every time I go by Central Park, I'm gonna have that mellow yellow song stuck in my head (much like I have now). I'm just mad about Saffron...

There should have been an EIS. But I suppose now it doesn't matter.

I think if the birds could survive the building of one of the largest cities in the world over the past few hundred years, they can survive a piece of fabric for a couple of weeks.

silly hippies....

What a Complete Waste of Time
 

This is what it looks like from the 10,000th floor:

http://tinypic.com/1sbfjd

I went this morning. Stupid. Just so very stupid. It totally takes away from the park.

On a positive note, I got into a discussion with some ducks. I said, "what's up?" They actually talked back to me. I'm not kidding. They said, and I quote, "quack!" They really said that, and they meant it! I'm no fool, so when they said "quack!" agaim, I turned right around, went to a bodega, and bought a loaf of bread. I fed them, dozens more ducks flew in for the feeding frenzy, and a few minutes later, we had nothing left to say to each other. So I left, walked under the stupid orange arches to a subway station, and went home.

My sister said, "I'm afraid it's a sign to let the bombing begin."

Re: What a Complete Waste of Time
 

Did you tell them they were full of it?

Seriously- from the pics I saw in the news- it could have been done better. Maybe instead of lining the sidewalks, do large red (not orange) swags along the perimeter of the park.

Re: Re: What a Complete Waste of Time
 

I would have, but they were serious. The ducks had attitude.I don't think that the idea could have been done well at all. Central Park is an artificial creation designed to make people forget that they are in a man made place. Its an illusion, and that's part of the magic of Central Park. The arches break the illusion and make you remember that you're in the middle of something that is fabricated. The arches are antithetical to all that is Central Park.

Back when I was living in Miami in 1983, I witnessed Christo's 'Surrounded Islands' project take shape in Biscayne Bay. Before the project even started, controversy raged over the project; when it was finally erected; they couldn't quit gushing over the praises.

Re: What a Complete Waste of Time
 

/hijack
YOU GAVE THE DUCKS BREAD!!!!
there is gonna be a mess load of poop tomorrow. bread is like a laxitive for most waterfowl, particuarly canda geese. one piece of white bread can make the geese poop up to 2lbs.
//end hijack

Re: Re: What a Complete Waste of Time
 

:eek:

2 pounds of goose/duck poop will take more away from the park than 2 weeks of orange gates. :eek:

I still haven't seen the Gates. When I finally get there, i'll make sure to stay far away from the ducks. I don't want to get hit.

Re: Re: Re: What a Complete Waste of Time
 

I hear if you feed pigeons alka seltzer, they explode :cool:

pigeons = flying shithouses :D