Thursday, February 17, 2005

The Gates

Below you'll find some snapshots I took today while strolling through Central Park to look at the temporary art installation, "The Gates" by Christo. (Click to enlarge.)

I have to say I wasn't really blown away by it. I think the real problem is that for some reason, they picked the absolute ugliest time of year for Central Park...everything is dead and brown; even what's green isn't especially vibrant right now. A few weeks from now, the grass will be a buzzing yellow green and there will be brilliant flowers everywhere. In the late summer, the park is a rich, deep, dark green. The "saffron" gates might look better mixed in with fall colors, too.

I'm not really keen on a color I can only describe as "detour orange." Basically I felt as if the park looked like it was under construction. But hey, if you're going to spend $21 million, hurray for spending it on a public art installation. The Gates are so popular, maybe they can be persuaded to do it again sometime when the weather is better.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I believe this does support the theory that art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. As a person with artistic tendencies I appreciate the work as creative and fun. From a practical standpoint though, I can't help but think of all the people who could have been helped in so many ways with that 21 million dollars.

p.p. said...

21 million? Money well spent? Well...