[extropy-chat] ART: Christo to Wrap Central Park

[natashavita at earthlink.net]

I am a big fan of Christo, have been for 20+ years.  He was a mentor for me
as an artist, especially with my Performance Art in the Amazon Jungle, and
Halealaka Volcano, and, especially the Transhumanist Art film and
performance which kicked off the Transhumanist Arts Movement.  "Breaking
Away" was a performance and film at Redrocks Amphitheater in the Rocky
Mountains of Colorado.

Throughout the years as an artist, my favorite venue has been the
environment.  It caused me to apply for Space Camp and attend at the United
States Space and Rocket Center in Tranquility Base, where I had hope to
join an astronaut training sessions back in the early 1980s.  I hope to be
the first artist in space :-)  Okay, "an" artist in space -- a dream that
has yet to be realized.

Working with the environment for some artists is the ultimate canvas, for
me it still is.  I enjoy the night sky like an enormous canvas waiting to
happen.

Much of this was a direct influence by artists such as Christo, for he set
the pace and the stage. Another such artist is James Turrell,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/001102_turrell.shtml who
along with Christo, magnificently utilizes the environment.  However, for
Turrell, his light sculpture can be found in any environment and is so
breathtaking that one leave fully mesmerized.

CENTRAL PARK:

While Christo is a superb artist and his "Running Fence" or "Wrapped
Islands" and the "Curtain" on the Grand Canyon were breathtaking, Central
Park might not be such a fanciful image to toy with. Central Park is, in
itself, a work of art, as it was designed by the architects and
landscapers, the people and the city of New York.  It is a place for people
to call their own, to romp and play, and to meditate and relax.  

"After almost 25 years, the city of New York has finally approved Christo
and Jeanne-Claude's proposal for an enormous art work in Central Park,
albeit in a reduced form. For two weeks in February 2005, some 23 miles of
saffron-colored fabric will flutter over the pedestrian walkways in the
park. The fabric will be hung on 7,500 "gates," or frames, that are 16 feet
high and vary in width from 6 to 18 feet. The artists, who are funding the
work themselves, conceived the piece in 1979, but the proposal was
repeatedly rejected due to concerns that it would damage the park and
disrupt wildlife. The revised plan calls for half the number of gates and
eliminates the need to drill holes in the ground for the posts; instead,
they will be secured to small steel bases placed on the pavement. The New
York Times reported that the local Sierra Club chapter is opposing the
project pending further environmental reviews."

or http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040412/misc/12christo.htm

I think that the people of New York do have a say in all this and that it
is their environment - not an empty Island, or a field out in the middle of
nowhere that a fence can run, or a curtain across the Grand Canyon.

It certainly causes one to think ...  I’m not sure. What about you?

Natasha


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