Chirsto is going to install another big art work. This time it is in New York’s Central Park. The price tag is US$20,000,000.00. He and his wife are funding this largely through the sale of sketches of the art work. The work is a bunch of fabric hanging over the walk ways and paths of the park. It is called “The Gates” and there are drawings & additional information over at:
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html
When I told Lisa about this over coffee this morning her only question was “why?” Which I think is very fair & likely the only question that anyone should really be asking.
“The Gates will be a golden ceiling creating warm shadows.” “The Gates will seem like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and will highlight the shape of the footpaths.” – this is from the website. So this answers some questions, but not why – maybe the website is designed to answer the what. 7,500 gates along the walkways of central park.
And it does answer the what – type of fabric & steel to be used, how material will be moved in, etc.
The site also goes a long way to describe the who – which appears to be largely what the Gates is all about about – the personality of Christo, maker of deadly umbrellas. Who is clearly a genius for some reason – largely becuase he gets things done, things which rule and are talked about – things that require insane planning and red tape, But also, the employees who will put this thing together – their health coverage & pay rates are even detailed (Christo makes US$600,000 for his sketches, manual labors are getting US$6.00 for their hourly work, which I guess is fair).
The where is New York.
The when is January 3rd the installation starts (weather permitting).
Which only leaves the why – and like most happenings sometimes this question cannot be answered until after the event is finished.
David Given Schwarm 
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