Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the Gates Case
Essay by skiibeau • January 26, 2013 • Essay • 302 Words (2 Pages) • 1,805 Views
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were able to accomplish, The Gates, by
positioning 7,503, sixteen-foot tall, saffron-painted gates that were
draped with saffron-colored panels of fabric over the walkways
throughout New York City's Central Park for sixteen days. The funding
for the project came directly from the artist since they do not accept
donations. The Gates, in addition to all of their previous projects
was entirely financed by the CVJ Group (Jean-Claude Javacheff,
President). The funding came from sales of drawings, collages, scale
models, and some of the earlier works from the fifties and sixties.
They also sold some of the original lithographs from their former
subjects to complete The Gates. (New York Times Company). The project
provided employment for installation workers, maintenance teams, and
residents experienced in manufacturing and assembling. After being on
display for sixteen days removal workers were hired to remove the work
of art and ensured that the products were recycled. (New York Times
Company)
Much like The Gates, New York's Central Park is a manmade work of art,
constructed more than 150 years ago when Fredrick Law Olmstead and
Calvert Vaux were commissioned to create a park out of a rocky,
swampy, and almost treeless landscape. (Sayre) Furthermore, the shape
of The Gates, were a reflection of the park's rectangular shape and
surrounding geometric gridline.
The Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto came to mind for the Japanese when
viewing The Gates. With more than 10,000 Torii gates that line the
mountain trails, the similarities suggested an important environmental
message to them. (Sayre) The trails lead into the wooded forest of
the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the
shrine grounds. (Fushimi Inari Shrine) There is no cost of admission
and it is always open to the public.
Works Cited:
Fushimi
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