It's a great time to be alive. It's even a greater time to be alive and living in New York. It is a rare occasion when art takes over the front page of the New York Times - a recognition that the consciousness of the public has been stirred. Studio 360 devoted most of today's program to discussing the significance of the Christos' "Gates" happening, officially opening today in Central Park.
The following are some notable quotations from the Studio 360 program commenting on this artistic "Magnificent Obsession."
Ms. Christos said that there is a wide gap between the conception and execution of an idea. For them, the "Gates" event is like bringing up children.
For them, the essence of this seemingly "purposeless" event is "sending beauty into battle with red tape."
When complimented on their problem solving abilities, Ms. Christos indicated not exactly so. They have nineteen wins, but thirty-eight failures. No wonder this is so. The projects are vast in scope, are very expensive (millions of dollars), complicated, subject to luck and vagaries of the weather, dependent on the effort and cooperation of hundreds of people, continually running up against narrow mindedness and the worst of petty political snags, having to endure countless frustrations, and hard to swollow compromises.
When further complimented on their patience, Ms. Christos said it is not patience that counts, it is passion.
She ended the interview with an uplifting and inspiring statement: "Time is on the side of the artist."
I am stirred to my core just thinking about attending this once in a life-time occurrence - it will be interesting to note what my response will be when I actually experience it.
It's a great time to be alive. It's even a greater time to be alive and living in New York right now.
More to follow...
It was a very well done endeavor. The only problem I had was the color. The same color and shape as a very well known moving van company. My peripheral vision thought it was seeing a million Allied Vans in Central Park.
Perhaps a little more red or yellow in the saffron and there would not have been this visual confusion. A beautiful day anyway. thanks Mr. Christos
Posted by: utreviolet | February 15, 2005 at 10:01 PM
It is fun, isn't it? And the city really needs some fun. Twenty-three miles of flapping saffron! Spectacular in itself, but imagine how spectacular it will be if it snows! We have to thank Mayor Bloomberg for allowing this to happen. Previous mayors haven't allowed it, and it's been in the works since the 70s. I saw him on TV unfurling some of the "gates" and he was obviously enjoying himself.
Here's my favorite Christo story, told to me by some of the staff at MOMA. Back when Christo was wrapping buildings, the museum purchased a work by him. It came in a wooden crate, which they carefully opened. Inside the crate was a wrapped package, which they also carefully opened, and there was nothing inside. The package was the art work.
Posted by: MJ | February 13, 2005 at 04:01 PM