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I don't get the point of 'The Gates'

February 16, 2005 at 02:07 PM
The Gates

Kottke and many of the other weblogs I read have linked to them over and over, but I just don't understand the purpose of The Gates. They appear to be orange fabric suspended from an orange set of poles, times a seven and a half thousand. They seem to really overwhelm Central Park.

Is it art? A statement? Neither? How did it cost $20 million? I'm not the only one wondering.

Comments

1 Jess said...

"It has no purpose, no message, it is not a symbol. It is only a work of art." - Jean-Claude

check it out: http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.html

Posted on February 16, 2005 at 05:59 PM

2 Brian said...

I know I linked to that page, but I don't see where he said that.

If it's just a work of art, it's dumb.

Posted on February 16, 2005 at 06:05 PM

3 From a free Orange...

One advantage of being from India and living in Iowa is being able to look at something and discern, with good judgement, if it's worth $21 Million....

Posted on February 16, 2005 at 09:02 PM

4 Nik said...

"It's a waste of money, but it's fabulous."
French. Very, very French... :)

Posted on February 16, 2005 at 09:03 PM

5 Jess said...

"It's a waste of money, but it's fabulous."
^that came from a fourth-grader... in New York...
the rest of the quote: "It brings happiness when you look at it." :)

The money that the artists used to build the Gates came from the drawings for their previous pieces - it's all their own money. Once the gates are taken down, they will go to industrial recycling programs so that they don't just go to waste. All merchandising rights were given to the Nurture New York's Nature (associated with the Carriage House Center for Global Issues Foundation) and to The Central Park Conservancy. "Christo and Jeanne-Claude do not receive any revenue whatever from the sales of any article based on this gift of posters and merchandising rights." The only thing they're getting money off of are the pieces that Christo made during the planning of the Gates which are on-sale right now to people with lots and lots of money.

Posted on February 17, 2005 at 07:35 AM

6 andrew said...

If you don't get it, you never will.

Posted on February 17, 2005 at 08:39 AM

7 Brian said...

Wow Andrew, thanks for the enlightening statement. People like you are why I'm glad I don't get it. Even the person who made it said it had no purpose or message, that it was only art. Well you know what? I think it's crappy art. It's not beautiful, it's not meaningful or moving, it didn't take any skill.

Posted on February 17, 2005 at 10:01 AM

8 Nik said...

Jess,

It's wonderful that there are good causes behind all this, but all I find funny is people going gaga over it and proclaiming it to be this stupendous masterpiece, a thing of tremendous artistic and cultural value, which I really don't think it is.

Posted on February 17, 2005 at 11:18 AM

9 Brian said...

Check out The Somerville Gates.

Posted on February 18, 2005 at 09:18 AM

10 Shellie said...

Isn't $21 million spent on an grown man that plays with balls a waste?
Hasn't Geo Bush wasted your tax dollars... your money?
Enjoy the moment, say you were there and it didn't cost you anything!

Posted on February 18, 2005 at 08:01 PM

11 Matt said...

How does $21 million dollars spent on grown men paid for by ticket revenues, TV revenues and merchandise sales relevant to a discussion on Orange Flags?

I assume that the $21 million was funded through tax dollars and in that case then the statement can be made that yes tax dollars were wasted. I personally could care less, $21 million is probably a drop in the bucket to NYC budget, but many could argue that the money could be better spent. Education for example, police, fire, etc.

As far as sporting events are concerned. Sports do generate city/state and team pride. I realize that many stadiums are paid for by tax dollars, but sporting events also generate tax dollars. What income (or pride) do orange post-it tape flags generate??

I won't even get started on George Bush considering your opinions are obviously set on those matters. US tax dollars have been wasted long before George Bush had been elected and will be wasted long after.

Posted on February 18, 2005 at 11:14 PM

12 Jess said...

The project was not funded by anyone but the artists. Christo creates drawings of his projects and sells them to gain the money needed to go forward with his projects.

Posted on February 19, 2005 at 03:40 PM

13 Brian said...

Just because it's not a waste of public money doesn't mean it's not a waste of money. I'm more concerned about how it cost so much than I am about where the money is coming from.

Posted on February 19, 2005 at 05:42 PM

14 Christina said...

Art is meant to provoke comments like these. It's supposed to stir up reaction. Some people may think it's a waste of money others may not. Take it or leave it. It costs 20 million dollars because I'm sure they had to pay the city a ginormous sum to put this thing up. The rest goes to supplies. If I had the money to leave some sort of mark, I'd do it too.

Posted on February 20, 2005 at 05:34 PM

15 Tom said...

i went to see the gates today, with the snow they looked amazing, i would just like to know why they picked orange?

Posted on February 21, 2005 at 09:02 PM

16 Brian said...

It's snowing in NY right now? It was low 80s here in Dallas today. Winter came and went in like a week and now it's already hot again.

Posted on February 21, 2005 at 09:10 PM

17 Jon said...

Say what you will about Christo, (I'm neutral) but if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have "The Somerville Gates".

Posted on February 24, 2005 at 11:30 AM

18 jennifer said...

Wow! So many orange posts and flags, I thought I was stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike!

Posted on March 29, 2005 at 05:11 PM

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