While I had intended to write about it sooner than this, I suppose now is as good a time as any to mention that while down in the city last weekend for my birthday, I went to see “The Gates” in Central Park. If you’re not familiar, “The Gates” is a new work by Christo, the guy who, among other things, has wrapped Berlin’s Reichstag in fabric and filled a California valley with 1000+ giant yellow umbrellas. This work involves the placing of 7500 large (16 feet tall) orange metal frames hung with orange fabric along the paths in Central Park.
I’m not entirely sure what to say about the work, aside from that I liked it. As I’ve mentioned to a number of people I’ve talked to about it, I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean, but then, I don’t much go for Meaning in my art. Visually, it was quite impressive, if for now other reason than the sheer scale of the work; Central Park is pretty damn big, and one got the sense walking among the Gates that they were everywhere.
Another aspect of the installation that I like was the fact that despite temperatures in the mid-twenties and a rather chilly breeze, there were thousands of people out wandering around. I have to give any work of art its due that can motivate that many people to go check it out.