Tag: cool stuff

As I mentioned in the last post, we visited the New York Botanical Gardens in 2006 when Dale Chihuly glass sculptures were on display.  Not just a few chandeliers, MANY.  Not just a few little installations of his orbs, spike, tendrils – MANY.  It was extraordinary.  My friend Anne and I were clicking away on the cameras, but we also took time to just admire.  To just experience it.  It was special to share the experience with my daughter and her friend who were 10 at the time.  Both of them fancied themselves roving reporters with film. Loved seeing them dash around the grounds, trying to get the most artistic view in the frame.

I had watched many of Chihuly's videos and understood the passion he brings to the process, with enough enthusiasm to power up the teams who create on location – like Venice.  That was my favorite.  Could you imagine being there and seeing colorful glass balls bobbing along the canal?  When you reflect on what he does – creating all those pieces, wrapping and shipping, unwrapping and assembling on location…..it makes you even more in awe that someone would go to those lengths to share beauty.  A visionary.  

Last summer on our road trip we stayed in an Indianapolis hotel with a lobby jewel.  Fallon and I gasped because we knew who made it.  Lovely.

 

 

 

If you are in Florida, near Coral Gables…..you have plenty of time to make plans before the end of May….

 

Thanks for coming along on my homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude and the 10th anniversary of The Gates – Central Park, New York City.  It was a soul-touching mind-bending joyful experience to witness in real life – one of those you-had-to-be-there events.  I was glad I did – twice!  How I envy those who got to see them in-progress, then visit daily.  I will always be impressed and respectful of the colossal undertaking, and the courageous vision behind the saffron curtains.  To walk under them was a privilege. Sixteen days was fleeting, ephemeral….wish it was a little longer.  But the short-lived existence adds to the specialness, and that was their point.  Sixteen days meant you had to make the effort to get there, to be part of it.  

Christo is still pursuing Over The River, a temporary fabric suspension over the Arkansas River in Colorado.

There is a new book on the artists, due for release March 24.  Christo and Jeanne-Claude In/Out Studio. Christo will be signing books on April 1st at 192 Books, from 7pm. (192 Tenth Ave at 21st Street, NYC)

 

 

Although The Gates was a once-in-lifetime event, there are many opportunities we can take advantage of as curious people, hungry for visual stimulation.  Nine years ago we got to see a Chihuly installation at the New York Botanical Gardens.  It was another example of getting to witness a grand vision by an artist.  There is a Chihuly experience awaiting you at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida through May 2015.  Wish I could see it!  Last summer I met with friends at the Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey.  I will be going back soon to see an art installation by Jae Ko – 20,000 lbs of recycled kraft paper will be transformed into sculpture along a 80 ft. wall.  I have plans to visit Storm King later this Spring – to see a monumental Andy Goldsworthy stone wall in real life.  Is there something going on in your neck of the woods?  Get out and see it!  Whether it's an annual flower show, a new museum exhibit, or a parade, or fireworks – it's good to make a change to our routine and expand our visual cues.

Obviously art isn't about being epic, but it is really cool when we can participate as an observer, something that is really big…..so big that you can experience it dimensionally.  Here's to the visionaries.  

Thank you Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

 

 

 

The final page of my Gates journal – using up the table cover newsprint, with a parody postcard. This image made its way around the internet ten years ago and recently I found a shop selling "The Crackers" at CafePress.

 

p.s  The Gates of NYC have never been far from my mind, particularly these last three years while our town is undergoing serious road construction….we have miles of saffron orange barricade curtains along our local roads.  Here are the daily views during summer and winter.

 

 

On the final weekend of the event, I visited a second time with my friend Anne.  Snow had fallen and the view was much different.  The clouds hung low and the sun barely made a presence, but the park was lit with color, and still filled with pedestrians, and photographers, to catch the last impression of an epic art installation.  It was very special to see with Anne, as we had been at the Met exhibit the previous summer.  

I could smack myself for passing up a saffron fabric tote, being sold the summer of 2004 at the museum.  I don't know what we were thinking….that perhaps they would still be available in February?  They weren't. So as a consolation prize, I ordered us each one of the Met logo bags last month….with orange base. After completing my Gates journal, I have moved all my remaining souvenirs – books, postcards, the HBO documentary dvd, a subway ad, and few other things that go with my Christo collection, into the tote.

 

 

More views of the park….with snow.

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't get to see the installation but followed the progress in the news with great anticipation. I can imagine that for regular visitors, it was both a nuisance and a thrill.  Kinda like getting your house ready for Christmas.  All that glorious color introduced during the dismal colorless days of winter.  In reading the interview above, I loved hearing that the artists chose the park because it was part of their life, in their new home town.  Cool.

 

Another friend of mine, Seth Apter, has written his observations about The Gates to share with us here. Seth is an artist, author, designer, and workshop instructor.  His website is SethApter.com, and you can find his blog at TheAlteredPage.blogspot.com, and his stencils HERE.

 

 

Hard to believe that 10 years have past since this event took place in NYC. It truly seems like just yesterday. I recall the buzz that spread throughout the city when this installation was announced. There was a call put out for volunteers to assist in the set-up. I decided not to participate given that it was in the middle of winter. That is a decision I regret now that time has passed.

 

As I mentioned, it took me nearly ten years to finally commit to making my Gates journal.  Waiting, or procrastinating, provided the opportunity to utilize decorative washi tapes.  They weren't even on my radar in 2005.  I collected these knowing I would use them in the journal.  An orange pencil bag, found several years ago, sat patiently in the file and was the perfect tip-in to contain some loose items I wanted to keep with the journal.  For instance, a mini-book from the Central Park Conservancy.

 

 

 

In my journal is a fax exchange from 2005 between my friend Lynne Perrella and myself.  We met the Perrellas on the steps of the Met at noon on Sunday, February 20.  It was freezing cold, but super sunny, and a glorious afternoon to spend with friends, enjoying the energy filled park.

 

 

 

Lynne has graciously shared her experience.  She's a dear friend, an artist, designer, author, columnist, and workshop instructor.  You can find Lynne online at LKPerrella.com.

 

 

 

“After the last “no”…..is a “YES!”  Or, What I Learned About Life, After Seeing The Gates

By Lynne Perrella

 

The Gates was an experience that offered itself to me in several waves.  I expected to be wowed – and I was.  On the sunny ultra-cold day that I saw The Gates, I was caught up in the pure delight of parading and processing through the various fluttering saffron-colored draperies.  The best part was being able to look ahead and see that there were more, more, more, and still-more of them ahead, beckoning.  All throughout Central Park, uphill and down, undulating and preening in the sun – the stunning panels of fabric welcomed people from everywhere to come and make up their own mind.  I am sure the doubters came with a treasured chip on their shoulder, but I predict they went away with a smile on their face and a lilt in their step. 

All of the joy and hail-fellow-well-met applause for The Gates was preceded by……angst, difficulty, uphill battles, and dark days.  For decades, Christo and Jean-Claude met with NYC officials who, alas, did not “get it” about The Gates.  Blank stares, ridicule, pointless meetings and presentations that resulted in……nothing.  They proposed fluttering artistic panels of orange, and encountered stone walls of unwavering resistance.  But, the artists held to their vision, never gave up, and eventually a remarkable thing happened.  The City gradually, over many years, became READY for The Gates.  Administrations had come and gone, “out with the old, in with the new”, house-cleaning, upgrading, back-sliding, financial miscues and windfalls.   Instead of hanging out a big “Open For Business” sign, the City came up with an even better idea:  It allowed Christo and Jean-Claude to come and do their thing.  

As artists, we thrive on those moments when a great new idea erupts, and we have the luxury to move forward immediately and harvest all that is fresh and new about it.  But sometimes the Universe decides that a brilliant idea must marinate, percolate, and shimmer below the surface……until the moment is right.  And the artist has no choice but to tend the flame. 

The back story of The Gates taught me about the duality of passion and patience – and the endless rewards of work, work, work.   

 

Thanks Lynne!  It was so much fun to experience The Gates with you and John.

 

In my journal is a fax exchange from 2005 between my friend Lynne Perrella and myself.  We met the Perrellas on the steps of the Met at noon on Sunday, February 20.  It was freezing cold, but super sunny, and a glorious afternoon to spend with friends, enjoying the energy filled park.

 

 

 

Lynne has graciously shared her experience.  She's a dear friend, an artist, designer, author, columnist, and workshop instructor.  You can find Lynne online at LKPerrella.com.

 

 

 

“After the last “no”…..is a “YES!”  Or, What I Learned About Life, After Seeing The Gates

By Lynne Perrella

 

The Gates was an experience that offered itself to me in several waves.  I expected to be wowed – and I was.  On the sunny ultra-cold day that I saw The Gates, I was caught up in the pure delight of parading and processing through the various fluttering saffron-colored draperies.  The best part was being able to look ahead and see that there were more, more, more, and still-more of them ahead, beckoning.  All throughout Central Park, uphill and down, undulating and preening in the sun – the stunning panels of fabric welcomed people from everywhere to come and make up their own mind.  I am sure the doubters came with a treasured chip on their shoulder, but I predict they went away with a smile on their face and a lilt in their step. 

All of the joy and hail-fellow-well-met applause for The Gates was preceded by……angst, difficulty, uphill battles, and dark days.  For decades, Christo and Jean-Claude met with NYC officials who, alas, did not “get it” about The Gates.  Blank stares, ridicule, pointless meetings and presentations that resulted in……nothing.  They proposed fluttering artistic panels of orange, and encountered stone walls of unwavering resistance.  But, the artists held to their vision, never gave up, and eventually a remarkable thing happened.  The City gradually, over many years, became READY for The Gates.  Administrations had come and gone, “out with the old, in with the new”, house-cleaning, upgrading, back-sliding, financial miscues and windfalls.   Instead of hanging out a big “Open For Business” sign, the City came up with an even better idea:  It allowed Christo and Jean-Claude to come and do their thing.  

As artists, we thrive on those moments when a great new idea erupts, and we have the luxury to move forward immediately and harvest all that is fresh and new about it.  But sometimes the Universe decides that a brilliant idea must marinate, percolate, and shimmer below the surface……until the moment is right.  And the artist has no choice but to tend the flame. 

The back story of The Gates taught me about the duality of passion and patience – and the endless rewards of work, work, work.   

 

Thanks Lynne!  It was so much fun to experience The Gates with you and John.

 

For ten years I kept a file for The Gates.  It included the newspapers, articles, postcards, my precious swatch, the lanyard, my own photos, and even a NY subway poster.  The intention was to make a journal with large enough pages to host all the items.  I procrastinated, got distracted, moved on to other things. Knowing the anniversary was approaching, I determined to make a commitment to getting it done.  Ten years is along time to hold on to a bunch of stuff when it could be enjoying proper celebration in book form. A little research led me to a multi-ring portfolio binder, with black pages in protectors, that were the perfect size.  Leaning on the pre-made system felt really good because I was finally moving forward, and I knew I could still make it my own by contributing to the backgrounds with paint and stencils.  I had several items that fit a 8.5" x 11" page protector so I added the extra holes required to fit the binding, then tiered them in.

Is there a project you're working on where progress is hindered because you think you have to go fully custom?  Get out of your own way and find a short-cut that will jump start the process.  You'll always find a way to make it your own.