Heaneyland!

Orange you glad?

As promised, here are some pictures Rose and I took of the Gates.

We were there for the unfurling, which is when we discovered that the orange fabric was all wrapped around sturdy cardboard tubes hidden beneath Velcroed orange vinyl covers. (I hadn't given it much thought before, but, yeah, did I think the fabric was just going to be wadded up in there?) Hence the crowd was instructed to stand back as the gate unrolled, lest a big tube land on people's heads. You can see the shape of the roll here as one of the many Christo deputies pulls the ripcord in the first photo, and the orange cover being yanked away in the second photo. (Rose took both of these.)

Here's a pile of the cardboard tubes waiting for a recycling truck:

Most of the following don't require commentary; they are just pretty. I must say that the Gates is a highly photogenic installation, and one, we all agreed, that looked remarkably like the concept art.

This is another one taken by Rose. The vantage was unusual; we were both seated on a raised lifeguard-style seat on a volleyball court (intended for the referee/umpire/adjudicator/whatever-that-guy-is-called-in-volleyball). We had noticed someone else up there and thought it was a brilliant idea, and another couple noticed us and were waiting to trade places with us when we came down. I like to imagine an ongoing chain of people sitting there all day.

I took this next one on a lark, and had no idea it would come out like this, but I was extremely pleased with it. It's a shot straight up the side of an unopened gate:

You can see a Christoling in the back of the photo wielding the long pole used to undo the gate covers. This photo hints at just how good the fabric looks with the sun shining behind it.

It was a great morning. We'll be back a few more times, probably at least once with no camera, so we can just experience the art without feeling a need to document it for ourselves. I'm also looking forward to seeing what it looks like at night. Life is good.

Posted by Francis at 03:04 PM | TrackBack