Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the Gates Case

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were able to accomplish, The Gates, by

positioning 7,503, sixteen-foot tall, saffron-painted gates that were

draped with saffron-colored panels of fabric over the walkways

throughout New York City's Central Park for sixteen days. The funding

for the project came directly from the artist since they do not accept

donations. The Gates, in addition to all of their previous projects

was entirely financed by the CVJ Group (Jean-Claude Javacheff,

President). The funding came from sales of drawings, collages, scale

models, and some of the earlier works from the fifties and sixties.

They also sold some of the original lithographs from their former

subjects to complete The Gates. (New York Times Company). The project

provided employment for installation workers, maintenance teams, and

residents experienced in manufacturing and assembling. After being on

display for sixteen days removal workers were hired to remove the work

of art and ensured that the products were recycled. (New York Times

Company)

Much like The Gates, New York's Central Park is a manmade work of art,

constructed more than 150 years ago when Fredrick Law Olmstead and

Calvert Vaux were commissioned to create a park out of a rocky,

swampy, and almost treeless landscape. (Sayre) Furthermore, the shape

of The Gates, were a reflection of the park's rectangular shape and

surrounding geometric gridline.

The Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto came to mind for the Japanese when

viewing The Gates. With more than 10,000 Torii gates that line the

mountain trails, the similarities suggested an important environmental

message to them. (Sayre) The trails lead into the wooded forest of

the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the

shrine grounds. (Fushimi Inari Shrine) There is no cost of admission

and it is always open to the public.

Works Cited:

Fushimi