Description of Christo and Jeanne Claude`s Installation The Gates - Essay Example

The work of art, ‘The Gates’ can remind an observer of the overlapping of spaces in a rare attempt towards nature-human synchronization (Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”). Central Park has been a space that every New Yorker has been familiar with but after the installation of “The Gates”, it could make even a seasoned visitor to the park get lost in the mirage of saffron-clad gates. In this manner, this art installation simultaneously signified a statement in space as well as the loss of a sense of space.

It indeed is a bold statement made in bright colours. It is all about altering the space and thus altering the eye. ‘The Gates’ have a rare quality that combines an open invitation with an exciting sense of mystery at every step into it. The saffron clothe hung at each gate just like a half-curtain had a function of masking the view ahead, for a few moments, when a person passes through it (Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”). The gates masked the panoramic view at each step but also revealed a new vision also at every step (Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”).

The saffron wardrobe in which Christo and Claude had dressed up the classic elegance of the park provided a contrast beyond comparisons so as to make the onlooker feel as if he/she was entering a surreal world (Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”). The monotony of visual experience caused by the repetition of the gates has a purpose to serve. It hides the contours of the park and gives out a monolithic experience where even when a visitor walks miles and miles, she would feel she had not moved at all.

By repeating the space and expanding it, thus the artists had manipulated time as well, by instilling a feeling of eternity. The equal distance that is kept between the gates is yet another artistic technique to enrich the feeling of infinity. The very material presence of the textile is suggestive of the time-limited nature of this work of art. It is evident to the visitor to this work of art that it is not going to last forever just like a painting or a sculpture. Yet it has a unique value as a spectacle, a value that a painting or a sculpture cannot command.

It is the time-constraint that imparted it a value as a spectacle. The installation also offered the onlookers, a side view, from the road, which was equal to an outside view. From this view-point, the gates transformed into a neat row of big women legs clad in saffron skirts (Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”). The overflowing saffron that covered the park was also giving out a feeling of a season change- a change manifested by full-bloom foliage or a bright maple tree against the autumn sky.

This sense of change was obviously imparting a festive mood into the people, as they came and inhabited this new and inviting space in huge crowds. People usually go to a park to be with nature but the park was transformed into a mall-like space for a while by the artistic installation. The sanctity of nature was equaled with the creative reaching out towards nature by humans.The wind flowing in the park, which was hitherto owned by nature was for a while getting rented out by the artists to be a part of their work of art.

The movement that wind brought into this art installation was a very special element of the whole exercise. The notions of private space and public space, inner space and outer space, and so on was being redefined in this art venture, which was unique and intriguing as well. Passing each gate would become a personal experience for each one who did that as it is to the inner space of an individual that a work of art speaks to. Penz, Radick and Howell have explored the question of space in connection with art and have alluded to the basic query, is space “absolute” or “relative”? (5). It has also been observed that “by changing space, by leaving the space of one’s usual sensibilities, one enters into communication with a space that is physically innovating….

For we do not change place, we change our nature” (qtd. In Penz, Radick and Howell, 3). In a similar vein, Christo and Claude have attempted to change the space so that they can change human nature. Works Cited“Christo and Jeanne Claude “The Gates”.” YouTube, 25 July 2008. Internet. Penz, Francois, Radick, Gregory and Howell, Robert, “Space: In Science, Art and Society”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Print.