A few of my favorite shots from "The Gates":
Click here to see all today's shots of The Gates.
Oh, and here's the one where we saw Jeanne-Claude and Christo (J-C is in the burgundy legwarmers)!
I am not an arty person, mind you, just a layperson. That said, thoughts:
Positives: The sheer magnitude of the installation was impressive; even more impressive is the fact that Central Park is so huge that, at points during our walk, no gates were in sight. The Gates also highlight the terrain of the park magnificently, different elevations, etc.. The contrast of the saffron gates against the bleakness of the park on a rainy / sleety day like today was stunning - absolutely made the whole thing worthwhile. The park itself was stunning too - half frozen lake, browns and greys and whites, cold birds.
The whole affair reminded me of something people who know me have heard a million times. When I lived in England, I knew, surprisingly, about 10-15 Finnish people. Every Finnish person I knew owned a piece of orange clothing, usually pants. I once asked a friend about this, and she told me she kept orange clothes around to wear in the winter, when there was only an hour or two of daylight. Putting her orange pants on made her happy. The Gates was kinda like that.
And it was even, oddly, romantic.
Critiques: Think: construction cones.
Interestingly, the installation has been criticized for being authoritarian (despite the fact that the artists insist they have no meaning). I can see where this comes from, but honestly the anarchic, random movement of the fabric with the wind says more to me that there's balance there, between the authoritarian and the anarchic.
My rough-and-ready assessment: go see The Gates if you're in New York. Even if you don't like it, the park in winter is an underrated gem.
Posted by jess at February 15, 2005 12:04 AMGreat pictures! I'm going over today, can't wait to see them for myself.
Your sweater is gorgeous - I've never worked with Cash Iroha, but love how it feels.
Posted by: mindy at February 15, 2005 9:16 AMLovely photos! I love the rainy, gray ones -- just beautiful. And your sweater is terrific too!
Great pics! Thanks for sharing! I've heard a couple stories on NPR about these but had yet to actually see what they're about. So big thanks for sharing!!
Posted by: Giao at February 15, 2005 3:13 PMThank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks for going (you deserve a little fun adventure for all of your hard work in class). Thanks for sharing your pictures (amazing, as usual). And, thanks for giving me an awesome new desktop wallpaper image.
Posted by: joy at February 15, 2005 7:51 PMwhen are you coming to NYC, jom?
if you want a high-res version of any of these shots, e-mail me and i'll send it to ya.
when are you going to post some of your incredible blow-every-commercial-card-maker-out-of-the-water paper prods on here, ms. miller? you owe the world a peep of your valentines, and all your other fab creations.
Posted by: jess at February 15, 2005 9:05 PMWOW, what amazing pictures! I also nabbed one for my desktop, I hope you don't mind. I just found your website thanks to Almost Felted. Made my day, it did. I'm going to NYC this weekend, maybe the Gates will still be up???
And that is a beatiful sweater!
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Love is a path to the heart that knows its own way.
Posted by: Lamar Cole at October 22, 2005 1:48 PM