legionnaire

Modern Art Takes Manhattan

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of modern art, the MoMa (new york museum of modern art, for the culturally illterate) remains my favorite museum in the city. Which also means, as you may have guessed, that I'm a big fan of the current display going on in central park. Some of you may not be aware, but conceptual artists Christo and Jean-Claude (of wrapped Reichstag fame) have an exhibit going on right now in the park that consists of 23 miles of orange wooden gates with silk banners coming down from them. When it first opened toothpick and I went to check it out. I thought it was pretty impressive, so I figured I'd post some pics of it.

Unfortunately SG only allows me to upload pics that are 100k max, so I had to lower the resolution on them, but I still think they're prettty impressive.

Here's toothpick standing in front of them:


Me in front of them:


And a more panoramic picture that gives a better idea of what they look like:


I have some more in a new pics folder I created that you can check out.

A lot of people have complained about this exhibit. People seem to either love it or hate it. The biggest complaints I've heard against it so far include the (erroneous) claim that it's a "waste of money." That may well be, but New York city is not paying for it, they're just allowing the artists to use the space, it's been entirely privately financed. And judging from the numbers of people that you can see in the pics (taken on a cold February saturday) I'd say the increased foot traffic in and near the park are probably a net economic gain for the city in terms of increased business. Just a hunch.

The second complaint that I hear is that "it's not art." One of the revelations of the 19th and 20th centuries was that art really is in the eye of the beholder. The invention of the camera freed artists from their previously mundane role of depicting accurate likenesses of real world objects because none could ever hope to do as good a job as a camera. The result was an attempt to add more into a work of art than simply a representation of something - a truly well constructed piece of artwork conveys a variety of sensory stimuli (either directly or suggestively) and the best make a bold statement, be it emotional, political, ideological or otherwise.

Conceptual art can be very difficult for people to conceive as art because it is often so far from what our general experience with "art" has been. However, the purpose of conceptual art can be to expand our notions of what art really is - in this case, the artists (rather successfully, in my opinion) converted an entire park into a single, cohesive piece of artwork. An impressive feat - and doubly so because of the timing. They specifically wanted this to happen during the winter, at a time when the park is noticeably devoid of most life or activity, and for the more pragmatic reason that the colors would be easier to see without foliage blocking the view. But I think it takes real vision to take on a project of this magnitude and scope and successfully see it through. If you're in the area and you haven't checked it out first hand, I suggest you think, I think people will be pleasantly surprised at the reality of it.

In other news, I've just returned from skiing, and despite stinking of cigarettes (I stayed with two French chain smokers), some sunburn and a sprained thumb, it was a lof fun. There's some digital video of me skiing that I'll put up as soon as I get a copy of the disk, and then you can bask in the glory of my skiing prowess. For now, you'll all have to be content with what your imaginations create for you.