An Introduction To The Gates
For the last 26 years the husband and wife team Christo and Jeanne-Claude have lobbied to erect public art in Central Park. The French couple has lived in New York for forty years and has not had any art projects in their adopted home. Until now.
On February 12 one of the largest art projects New York City has ever seen will be unveiled. The Gates stretches the length of almost every sidewalk that winds through the park. Every meter or so a large orange gate will be erected and flaps of cloth will hang down, just above the heads of passersby, and blow in the wind. Like most of their art, The Gates exists in time: It will only be installed for a few weeks.
The visual impact of the project depends on the stark nature of the park in the middle of winter. Amidst the grays and whites of bare trees and snowy hills, thousands of bright orange gates will both conceal and reveal the park. As with their famous wrapped work, this will create a unique experience in a familiar setting.
For the five days prior to the opening, I have the honor of serving on the installation team.
Last year I saw an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art designed to prepare New Yorkers for the coming installation. Many of Christo's famous preliminary drawings and materials that would be used were on display. The exhibit explored the methodology that Christo and Jeanne-Claude employ.
Unlike many artists, they refuse grant funding and finance their projects by selling Christo's preliminary drawings and collage. The couple collaboratively develops an idea and through art relating to the project they promote it to patrons and the necessary authority. A recent exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, explored the many projects that they have proposed and planned but not implemented. The time-frame of The Gates, almost thirty years, is common for their large scale exhibitions.
Once a project is complete, however, Christo will never draw it again. The physical implementation of their vision serves as the final instantiation of their vision.
In addition to self-financing their work, they refuse volunteers. All staff are paid fair wages and skilled union laborers are used whenever possible. For many of their projects highly advanced materials are required. At a project in Switzerland a new fabric had to be developed in order to wrap trees without weighing them down and redefining their shape.
Because the project requires a large number of unskilled workers, they deployed a web site where individuals could apply to work on the team. Favor was granted to residents of New York but many workers, including myself, travelled for the once in a lifetime opportunity to work on this important art project.
Over the next week I will document my experience with text and photographs. I strongly encourage those of you who can make it to travel to New York while the project is on display. There will never again be anything like it.
1 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: An Introduction To The Gates.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.samfelder.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/176
Who is this guy?
Leave a comment