Weekend Journal: Art Pilgrimage to "The Gates"
Belated weekend journal, gentle reader . . .
No Chinatown, but did go tearing off on a crazy art pilgrimage -- and I don't even like modern art. But it was the last weekend for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Gates" in New York's Central Park, so I went.
Getting there was an adventure too -- I almost got my head smashed in on the train by an apologetic young guy who was trying to pull his snowboard from the overhead luggage rack.
And I ran into a cheerful older couple en route to the Gates. Clearly the whole idea of going belonged to the wife; the husband grinned at me and said, "All this just to go see some cloth flappin' in the wind!"
And to be honest, I didn't think I'd like the Gates. Come on, thousands of saffron-colored panels . . . ? But when I got there -- along with the thousands of other visitors -- I couldn't help but like them. Here's a shot:
They were really striking against the snow and the bare branches, the usual white-and-gray of a Central Park in winter. Such a splash of color! The Gates really made you look at a familiar place in a whole new way. And the idea of Gates, like thousands of doorways, seemed really fitting for New York City -- with all its many people going to and from all those many places . . .
Plus it was just fun to walk through those orange things -- people couldn't resist reaching up to touch the fabric or spin around the "doorposts" or take a million photos. The fabric made a gorgeous sound in the wind too -- rich, heavy sounds, like canvas sails, that made me think of ships and sailing and exciting adventures. And all that saffron-ness swirling above your head was oddly enjoyable!
That's probably one of my better photos. I was trying to capture some of the feeling of it -- like a winter festival. People were out with kids and dogs and cotton candy and cameras . . . Note the child on the right side, making the snowman (she was there with siblings and her dad) -- how fun!
Eventually I made it into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to the roof garden for another view. It was OK, but I thought the Gates were better when you were right up close next to them. You be the judge:
The trouble with being inthe Met, though, is that you run immediately into all kinds of art snobs and culture vultures. I overheard one spectacularly snooty conversation which ended with a mink-coated woman saying that she didn't like the Gates at all because "they look so . . . Soviet."
Plus, I then heard her complain, "couldn't all that money have been used for something better?" (The money for the project, by the way, came out of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's own pockets, so I'm thinking, if they want to spend, that's up to them, right?)
So that was my weekend jaunt. Then back to my nerd hovel to study -- and to get ready for the latest Nor'easter to dump snow on me once more . . .