Christo’s “Gates” and more musings on “what is art?”
Yesterday I spent several hours in New York’s Central Park, walking its paths and encountering “The Gates”. It was a wonderful experience: a panoply of color and movement, of intimate corners and broad vistas….and people, lots of people! But is it Art (with a capital A)?
My dictionary defines “art” as follows:
1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. 2. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty; specifically, the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.
By these definitions, the Gates certainly qualify as art. They are indeed a human effort whose result is to supplement and alter a natural setting. Their appearance in the Park serves to highlight and enhance the dips and curves of the landscape, the wide open spaces and secret pathways. And the Gates encompass so many elements: static three-dimensional form, movement as the fabric lifts lazily in the breeze, or flaps when the wind is stronger, and brilliant color that changes as the light shifts.
An artist friend, asked to reflect on whether the Gates qualify as art, said yes: because they promote discussion and make viewers see in new ways. The juxtaposition of artifact (the Gates) and nature (the Park) adds an emotional dimension as well. Not only do we think and consider when looking at the project, we also form an emotional connection to the work because of the experience of walking through, under, around, and next to it. Art succeeds when it engages both our intellect and our emotions.
The Gates were installed for only two weeks. In a way, that finite time frame was part of the art, as well. A viewer said, “It will be really interesting when they’re gone.” Did she mean that our vision of the Park will be forever changed due to this interlude? Or are some beautiful things meant to be seen and absorbed, then left as memories ?
For more information about the Gates and Christo’s other works, go to www.christojeanneclaude.net
If you’d like a tour of the Gates, here are a series of wonderful photos taken by Midge Eliassen: Gates2.pdf
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