"The Gates" lights up Central Park
NEW YORK - It is a "majestic procession" to David Ellis '07.5. But to Sarah Staveley-O'Carroll '03, it's "just another bunch of pretentious artists."
Like art critics, Brown students have mixed reactions about "The Gates." Nonetheless, Brunonians have taken the time to see the piece before the Feb. 27 end of its installation in New York City's Central Park.
"The Gates" is a temporary public arts project designed by French artist Christo and his spouse and partner Jeanne-Claude. The artists designed 7,500 16-foot high "saffron" rip-stop curtains ("the same color as Jeanne-Claude's hair" according to "Gates" worker Andre Cruz). The gates arch over 23 miles of the park's pathways. The bright color of the art contrasts with the neutral tones of a winter in the snowy Central Park, while the curtains' movement in the wind is intended to underscore the beauty of nature's activity.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed the project with the stipulations that it could not permanently alter the park and would not be an expense to taxpayers. The installation cost nearly $21 million of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's private funds to build. The couple will not directly earn any additional profits from "The Gates." Although the park gift shop currently sells "The Gates" memorabilia, those profits go directly to a Central Park conservation fund called "Nurture New York's Nature," according to NYC.gov.
Along with materials and construction expenses, much of the project's cost covers the salaries of people like Amy, Andre Cruz and Jo Ann Silverman, three of 200 official project employees. "The Gates" does not accept volunteers. Instead, workers are paid hourly at minimum wage.
Jo Ann said she is proud to be a "Gates" "groupie" working to "maintain the integrity" of the project. Her maintenance tool: a tennis ball skewered onto a retractable pole used to untangle the wind-blown fabric. According to Amy, Jeanne-Claude passes the park in her Mercedes to point out to workers which gates need untangling.
The artists also compensate their employees with daily breakfast and dinner, and exclusive autographed memorabilia ("Two items each!" Jo Ann said). At 7 a.m. they greet workers, often with jokes.
The "quirky odd couple," as Andre called them, especially likes to tease workers with "Anyone for tennis?"
Christo is like a "Bulgarian Woody Allen," according to Amy.
After 37 years of public art installations, the couple are international celebrities. In 1976, "Running Fence" spanned 24.5 miles of California's Sonoma and Marin counties from the hills to the water. In 1983, they used pink fabric floating in water to encircle Florida's Biscayne Bay in "Surrounded Islands." Their next project, "Over the River," will be in Colorado, and they are already looking for workers, according to their Web site.
All of their works are temporary. At 16 days long, "The Gates" is the longest standing project. People are rushing to see it before it is taken down.
"Everything else will stay in New York," said Barbara, a visitor from California who chose to see "The Gates" over some of the city's other attractions. She visited the park four days in a row "to see 'The Gates.'" There were 250,000 people in the park during daylight hours on Saturday, according to Jo Ann.
Some visitors have an artistic interest in the installation, carrying around Nikons and Canons with zoom lenses and tripods or 8 mm cameras. Others have a tourist's interest, using camera phones to take pictures of their children or small dogs in sweaters in front of "The Gates."
The variety of people in the park reflects the constant diversity of the city itself. A woman in a mink coat walks next to a man wearing no shoes. A man with a thick Irish brogue leans down to his son and, pointing to the orange curtains, says, "Now that's the power of an idear." Out-of-towners arrive from across the globe to experience "The Gates." A strong German contingent has followed Christo since his 1995 project, which draped the Reichstag, the German parliament building, in fabric, Amy said.
The project also attracts New York residents for a variety of reasons. Local entrepreneurs fill nearby streets with hotdog stands and caricature booths. Andre got involved because he needed a job. Jo Ann walks in the park every day and after watching the installation process felt that the project was nearly hers anyway. Amy recently moved to the city and is working on the project from beginning to end to meet people.
Bloomberg is also taking advantage of "The Gates." Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been proposing this installation since 1979, but Bloomberg is the first mayor to approve of the project. In a letter to the public on NYC.gov, he said New York is "the cultural capital of the world," and added that "thought-provoking and inspiring public art adds to this experience." His acceptance of "The Gates" coincides with a visit to the city from the International Olympic Committee, which is currently considering New York's bid for the Summer Olympics in 2012.
"The Gates" is free to all visitors, at least until Feb. 27, when workers will begin to disassemble the project and recycle its steel, aluminum and vinyl. The exhibit's presence will only exist in pictures, memory and the small samples of unused saffron tapestry, which are given out as souvenirs daily.
And those are valuable swatches. The artists spent $48,000 creating these free souvenirs, for which they intentionally purchased extra fabric. The day the curtains were unfurled, the samples were sold on eBay for as much as $80 apiece, Jo Ann and Andre recall. Now they are listed for as low as 99 cents.
Workers are prepared to discuss visitors' questions about Christo, Jeanne-Claude and "The Gates" project. The most frequently asked question: "Can I have some fabric?" The answer is usually no, they've run out. Each worker gives out approximately 600 square swatches each day. The park's video cameras and security staff guard against fabric theft. One worker was fired on Saturday for the unauthorized trading of fabric samples for other "Gates" memorabilia. Amy and Jo Ann have both had to calm park visitors upset that their swatch didn't look exactly like the hanging curtains. According to Amy, who participated in the original installation, weather damage, such as rain and snow, has slightly altered the original fabric.
Brown strives to strengthen public art on campus
"('The Gates' is) a happening" that has "pushed a button" for people, said Jo-Ann Conklin, director of the Bell Gallery and member of Brown's Public Arts Commit-tee. Conklin noted that the news media has helped to promote the frenzy over "The Gates." On its opening day, major newspapers from the Rocky Mountain News to the Weekend Australian published articles about the project.
Conklin recalled how Paola Pivi's "Untitled (Donkey)" also pushed a button for the Providence community during its temporary stay on the side of the Sciences Library. Faculty and Providence residents embraced the SciLi mural of a donkey in a rowboat as a "mascot" as much as students did. Conklin explained that many neighbors who usually complained about Brown's infringement on the local community congratulated the University on the donkey mural.
Under the encouragement of Chancellor Emeritus Artemis Joukowsky '55 P'87, Brown's Public Arts Committee has been bringing public art to campus on rotation for over two years. Conklin likes to bring art outdoors and to the public because it can be "wonderful and whimsical," especially because its "surprise effect can be an enhancement" to the viewing experience that is "never in effect in a museum," she said.
Aside from Pivi's piece, the current public art on campus is "tame and established," said Steven Lubar, professor of American civilization and the new director of the John Nicholas Brown Center of American Civilization.
Lubar came to Brown this year as a former curator at the Smithsonian in Washington. He said "The Gates" is not his favorite Christo piece, but he is happy that the project makes people "think about landscape." In fact, Lubar said he would like to see the same theme continue to grow at Brown.
In his time studying museums and memorials, Lubar has discovered that "good art comments about the places that surround it." Brown is "a remarkable public space. ... (Let's) call attention to that," he said.
Several students echoed Lubar's sentiments. While many students were indifferent when asked about current public art on campus, they responded enthusiastically to mentions of Pivi's piece. About the donkey, Kai Carter '06 said, "I loved it ... (because) I made up my own story and interpretation. Plus, it was on top of (the) SciLi, which is boring and ugly."
For Conklin, public art at Brown is a growing project. She said art by recognized artists, like Roy Lichtenstein's "Brushstrokes" - currently on display behind MacMillan Hall - is financially and logistically convenient for the University. Many established artists have foundations that loan their pieces to the University at no cost. In cases like these, Brown is only financially responsible for the art installation and short-term maintenance. It is more expensive to purchase art, which incurs the additional expenses of storage and long-term maintenance.
Although the Public Arts Committee started with seed money from President Ruth Simmons' discretionary fund, it is currently sustained by private donations. Unlike many peer institutions, Brown does not have an art museum. Because of this absence, public works of art at Brown are important as "status symbols" that make the campus "livelier" and more "respectable" to demonstrate that "art is important in life" and to Brown, Conklin said.
Nonetheless, the school hopes to obtain more works by present-day artists. In the long term, Conklin hopes to juxtapose "old-school (works from) when art was about art" and exploring shapes, space and color "with contemporary works which naturally have political" overtones, she said.
Lubar said universities have the privilege of hosting more political works than can government-supported venues such as the city of New York.
But Conklin is careful to say that Brown's public art will be aimed at "lifting people's spirits" and less towards "heavy," overtly political or socially charged art.
Conklin said she is excited that the new Life Sciences Building on Olive Street will incorporate a stylized glass façade of a handprint by Pittsburgh artist Diane Samuels. She hopes that future University projects will incorporate art into their building plans. She also looks forward to finding a piece for the Watson Institute as the committee's next project.
In the meantime, the committee will continue its efforts so that the Brown community can continue to enjoy public art on its own campus.
