Rand Wacker

Last week I spent a couple of days in New York City for work. I use the term “days” loosely because it was more like 56 hours of non-stop go-go-go. I was lucky enough to be there during the very limited engagement for Christo’s The Gates project strewn all throughout Central Park. I’ve of course heard over peoples opinions through various news reports and blogs and what not, but I wasn’t prepared to take in the fact that IT COVERS THE WHOLE DAMN PARK. That feat of logistics alone made it interesting to my inner geek! As “art” the project is of course interesting and I’m sure there are plenty of sub-texts that I would gloss over if I tried to write anything about its “meaning” or “purpose”. What I will say interested me however is the unexpected attitude of everyone who was there enjoying the display at the same time as me.

As I walked over to the south end of the park from my hotel around 8am on a Thursday morning, the sky was crystal clear but the winds blowing down the concrete canyons of Manhattan were bitingly cold. As soon as I got to the perimeter of the park, the open spaces let the winds abate and I was able to concentrate on the structures themselves and taking a few pictures without wondering why I couldn’t feel my ears anymore. Wandering around and clicking a few snapshots I was greeted with a smile and a kind word by almost everyone I met. This is a first for for me anywhere in New York City. I though maybe these were all tourists come to see the latest pop installation. But there were too many friendly people for them to all be tourists, and there were definitely a number of people too well dressed to be from out of town. What was it that was making so many New Yorkers act so friendly this early in the morning. Maybe it was excitement about seeing new life and color in a city that has had a very difficult few years. Maybe it was pleasure at again being on the forefront of modern art (especially with the recent re-opening of the famed MOMA). Or maybe it was simply an overload of orange color? Whatever it was, any amount of time spent within the living display was worth it for the general good vibe alone.

I’ve linked to a few pictures I took and a very wide panoramic below