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More "The Gates" and weekend stuff
Phew. Tiring weekend.
Saturday was nothing much. Ficced a little, watched some more Bleach and Samurai Champloo (thanks
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notowned for your timely heads-up), played DW and Katamari Damacy, and generally lazed around. If I hadn't been so lazy, I would have headed out to the fabric store to look at patterns, but it was just that kind of day. And, Sunday was going to be busy.We got into NYC around 9 AM, got a parking spot in SoHo, and waited for husband's parents on the corner of Broadway and Houston. There was a brand-new cafe nearby that had hot things to drink, and that made an otherwise rushed morning much nicer. Once the Q's arrived, we took a cab uptown to Central Park to walk through "The Gates." The place was quiet (for NYC) when we got there, but the numbers of people increased steadily.
Our taxi driver didn't think much of the exhibit, and I agree that it didn't seem to have some overarching message. However, if the whole aim of the work was to get people out of the house to walk around Central Park, it succeeded spectacularly. The saffron fabric was brilliant against the drab February colors and contrasted perfectly against the bright blue sky - very cheerful. The Gates straddled walkways and traced them out in color, looping through the park. I thought it was very pretty and kind of a morale-booster in this time of year when nothing is bright.
We walked through the park for a while and stopped at the pond where my grandfather used to sail his toy boat as a youngster. It was getting to be lunchtime, so we went back to SoHo for a nosh, then walked around the shops for a bit. Mom and Dad Q left at 2 PM, but husband and I decided to stay to have dinner with some friends. However, they weren't available until 4:30, so husband took me down Canal St. and on to Mulberry and what's left of Little Italy. On the way, we passed Toys in Babeland, and of course we had to go inside, if for no other reason to say we'd been there.
In retrospect, we should have sprung for the cab fare and gone to MOMA, but c'est la vie. By 4 PM, I was in a world of hurt from a bad choice of shoes, and we stopped at a cafe for tea. Afterwards we met Burt and Mimi for dinner, and Mimi told us her opinion of The Gates (she hates orange, so she couldn't get past that.) Mimi is a respected feminist artist, so we were looking forward to her opinion, but if you don't like a color, you don't like a color!
We had a very nice dinner and then headed for home. There was traffic at the Holland, surprisingly, and husband was so busy getting wound up about his boss in the car that we missed our exit going home. Once we did get home, it was time for a good hot soak in the tub and bed.
The end!
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I think I agree with your reflections on The Gates. It looks pretty and a little upbeat and it must have looked nice with the fabric wafting in the wind, even if it was a cold February breeze. :) Sounds like you had a good Sunday out, despite the bad shoes and the missed exit. :)
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Yeah, there's something cheerful and fun about the spectacle of large scale art, and in particular art that one can walk under or through and sort of become part of oneself. That's why I too love large scale installations like this one.
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i posted it in my journal. awesome.
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