View source for The Gates

{{Short description|Art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude}}
{{About|the art installation in New York City|other uses|Gates (disambiguation)|and|The Gate (disambiguation)}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title              = The Gates
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| image              = The Gates, a site-specific work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in Central Park, New York City LCCN2011633978.jpg
| image_upright      = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = The installation over [[Gapstow Bridge]] in Central Park, New York City
| type               = [[Site-specific art]]
| artist             = [[Christo and Jeanne-Claude]]
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| completion_date    = {{start date|2005|02|12|df=y}}
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| weight             = 
| designation        = 
| condition          = Dismantled
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| city               = [[Central Park]], [[New York City]]
| coordinates        =  <!-- Only use for the coordinates (when known) of the artwork itself, i.e. not for the site, building, structure, etc where it is kept, otherwise leave blank (or omit): {{coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
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| website            = [https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/the-gates/ The Gates]
}}
'''''The Gates''''' was a [[site-specific art|site-specific]] work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as [[Christo and Jeanne-Claude]]. The artists installed 7,503 steel "[[Gate|gates]]" along {{convert|23|mi|km}} of pathways in [[Central Park]] in [[New York City]]. From each gate hung a panel of [[Saffron (color)|deep saffron-colored]] [[nylon]] fabric. The exhibit ran from February 12 through February 27, 2005.

In the books and other memorabilia distributed by the artists, the project is called ''The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979–2005,'' alluding to the time that passed between the artists' initial proposal and its installation.

''The Gates'' was greeted with mixed reactions. Some people loved the work for brightening the bleak winter landscape and encouraging late-night pedestrian traffic in Central Park; others hated it, accusing the artists of defacing the landscape. It was seen as an obstruction to bicyclists, who felt that the gates could cause accidents, although cycling was not legal on those paths. The artists received a great deal of their nationwide fame as a frequent object of ridicule by [[David Letterman]], as well as by [[Keith Olbermann]], whose apartment was nearby.

==Fabrication==
===Construction and cost===
According to the artists, the work used 5,390 tons of steel, 315,491 feet (96&nbsp;km) of vinyl tubing, 99,155 square metres of fabric, and 15,000 sets of brackets and hardware. The textile was produced and sewn in Germany. The gates were assembled in a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) Long Island facility, then trucked to Central Park.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} The steel was machined at the Charles C. Lewis Steel Company in Springfield, MA. 

As one of the conditions for use of the park space, the steel bases rested upon the walkways, but were unattached to them, so that no holes were drilled and no permanent changes were made to the park.<ref>{{cite web|title=City Announces Details of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Project: The Gates in Central Park|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=19300|website=NYC Parks|publisher=The City of New York|access-date=18 June 2017|date=November 22, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Barron|first1=James|title=Dressing the Park in Orange, and Pleats|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/nyregion/dressing-the-park-in-orange-and-pleats.html?_r=0|website=The New York Times|access-date=18 June 2017|date=February 13, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wallach|first1=Amei|title=Christo Does Central Park|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/christo-does-central-park-85307709/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=18 June 2017|date=February 2005}}</ref>

The artists sold pieces of their own artwork, including preparatory drawings for ''The Gates'', to finance the project.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=McIntire|first=Mike|date=2005-03-05|title=Enough About 'Gates' as Art; Let's Talk About That Price Tag (Published 2005)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/05/nyregion/enough-about-gates-as-art-lets-talk-about-that-price-tag.html|access-date=2020-11-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The artists said the project cost of [[United States dollar|$]]21 million. But Greg Allen and ''[[The New York Times]]'' attempted to itemize the costs and could account for about [[United States dollar|$]]5–10 million, given reasonable estimates for parts, labor, and costs related to the staffing of the installation.<ref>[http://greg.org/archive/2005/02/13/the_gates_bill.html '' 'The Gates' Bill.''] Greg Allen, greg.org, February 13, 2005.</ref><ref name=":0" />

===Installation===
Installation began on February 13, 2004. During the week of March 17, Central Park filled with workers using [[forklift]]s to move the rectangular steel plates into position. Small signs with alphanumeric codes along the park's walkways guided the placement of each piece.

By April 10, most of the rectangular metal plates were positioned. All had small orange plastic markers sticking up two feet (around half a meter) from each end, possibly intended to help people find the base plates if they were covered with snow. Progress was hampered in early 2005 by a major snowstorm on January 22 and extreme cold.

On February 7, 2005, more than 100 teams of eight workers, all wearing grey uniform smocks, began erecting the gates and bolting them to the base plates. The artists specified the color as ''saffron'' but many local observers described it as orange. The fabric hung from the crossbars at the top, {{convert|16|ft|0}} high, from which it was unfurled on opening day, February 12. The most common width seems to have been {{convert|11|ft|0}} although the width varied, depending on the width of the path, from 5 feet 6 inches to 18 feet.

<gallery widths="180" heights="180" mode="packed" style="line-height:130%">
File:Gates parts.jpg|Hardware used to ensure that the vertical pieces were parallel, even when the base plates themselves were not level, due to uneven or sloped ground
File:Gates base.jpg|During construction: one of the many metal base parts
File:Gates up.jpg|Before unfurling
</gallery>

==Display==
===Opening===
{{Wikinews|'The Gates' opens in New York City}}

The project was officially launched on February 12, 2005, when then-New York Mayor [[Michael R. Bloomberg]] dropped the first piece of fabric at 8:30&nbsp;a.m., with Christo and Jeanne-Claude in attendance. The rest of ''The Gates'' were opened subsequently throughout the park and were completed within the next few hours with large crowds of people watching. Generally, the crews of workers who erected the gates were assigned to open them. They walked underneath, and used a hook at the end of a long stick to pull a loop hanging from the crossbar of each gate. That opened the cloth bag containing the fabric panel part of the gate. The bag fell to the ground, along with a cardboard tube around which the fabric was rolled. The fabric part then hung from the horizontal crossbar. By the afternoon of February 12, all of the panels were unfurled.

The project staff remained deployed in the park, patrolling, and replacing damaged gates. On many days, staff members distributed free 2.75" square souvenir swatches of the orange fabric to passers by, in part intended to discourage vandalism. Nevertheless, one of the gates, near the Shakespeare Garden in front of the Delacorte Theatre, was vandalized and replaced frequently. The swatches remain highly collectible and trade on eBay for about $10 each.

===Closure and legacy===
[[File:Al Maysles, Antonio Ferrera, Jean-Claude and Christo at the 6th Annual Peabody Awards for The Gates.jpg|thumb|[[Albert and David Maysles|Al Maysles]], Antonio Ferrera, Jeanne-Claude and Christo at the 6th Annual Peabody Awards for The Gates]]

The installation was set to close February 27, 2005.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/25/gates.closing/ ''Central Park's 'Gates' to close''], a February 25, 2005 CNN story</ref> Christo and Jeanne-Claude also visited the installation on the last day, entering Central Park at its less congested northern end. Although the Park's roadways were closed to vehicles, they traveled with a police escort in their [[Maybach]] sedan. Christo then left the car and walked to several vantage points, capturing last minute photographs with a professional assistant. After the exhibition closed on February 27, the gates and bases were removed. The materials were industrially recycled, partially as [[scrap metal]].<ref>{{cite news | last = Beeson | first = Ed | title = Behold the Mega Shredder: Jersey City recycling plant turns cars to confetti in seconds | newspaper = The Jersey Journal | date = April 28, 2013 | url = http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/04/behold_the_mega_shredder_jerse.html#incart_river | access-date = 2013-04-26 }}</ref>

A 2007 documentary film's synopsis by the video's promoters, Kino Lorber, contend this artwork "brought over 4 million visitors from around the world to Central Park."<ref>[http://www.kinolorber.com/video.php?id=1149 The Gates documentary film], produced by Kino Lorber, Directors [[Albert Maysles]], Antonio Ferrera, [[David Maysles]], Matthew Prinzing, cf. watch on hulu.com: http://www.hulu.com/watch/380749</ref>

[[Albert Maysles|Albert Maysles's]] HBO movie ''The Gates'', about the installation,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/thegates/index.html?ntrack_para1=insidehbo7_text |title=HBO: The Gates |website=www.hbo.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214201951/http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/thegates/index.html?ntrack_para1=insidehbo7_text |archive-date=2008-02-14}} </ref> aired February 26, 2008, won a [[Peabody Award]] that same year.<ref>[http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/the-gates 68th Annual Peabody Awards], May 2009.</ref>

The science fiction movie ''[[Marjorie Prime]]'' features a fragmented memory from the female lead, Marjorie, about her experience of sitting on a park bench during this installation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/theater/marjorie-prime-a-tender-comedy-starring-lois-smith.html|title=Making Memories by Rewriting the Past|first=Laura|last=Collins-Hughes|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 12, 2014}}</ref>

====Inspirations====
''The Gates'' alludes to the tradition of Japanese [[torii]] gates, traditionally constructed at the entrance to [[Shinto]] [[shrine]]s.<ref>[http://collection.whitney.org/object/22792 The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City, 2003]. Whitney Museum of American Art.</ref> Thousands of [[vermilion]]-colored ''torii'' line the paths of the [[Fushimi Inari-taisha|Fushimi Inari shrine]] in [[Kyoto]], [[Japan]]. Successful Japanese businessmen traditionally purchased a gate in gratitude to [[Inari (god)|Inari]], the god of worldly prosperity.

<gallery widths="180" heights="180" mode="packed" style="line-height:130%">
File:FushimiInariTorii.jpg|Fushimi Inari Shrine, [[Kyoto]], [[Japan]]
File:Torii path with lantern at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Japan.jpg|Thousands of ''torii'' gates line the paths of the celebrated [[Fushimi-ku, Kyoto|Fushimi]] [[Inari (god)|Inari]] Shrine in Kyoto, Japan
</gallery>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180" heights="180" mode="packed" style="line-height:130%">
File:ChristoGates.JPG|Facing northeast from [[Belvedere Castle]]
File:Gates f.jpg|Facing east
File:The Gates from The Met 2007-02-18.jpg|From the roof of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
File:Gates b.jpg|Facing southwest
</gallery>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

'''Other sources'''<!--to convert to inline-->
* [http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=128894&title=the-gates&byDate=true Stephen Colbert describes ''The Gates'']
* [http://forgottendelights.com/christosgates.html Cave Paintings and Christo's ''Gates'': Art in Individual Minds and Public Places]
* ''Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates: Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005'', {{ISBN|3-8228-4242-7}}: for pictures of the manufacturing process, early meetings with city officials, pictures of the completed project, design drawings, etc.
* ''Christo and Jeanne-Claude'', {{ISBN|3-8228-5996-6}}: for pictures and commentary about earlier projects.

==External links==
{{commons category|The Gates (installation)}}
* [https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/the-gates/ ''The Gates'' on the Christo and Jeanne Claude website]
* [http://vinestreetworks.com] 8-minute film for download: ''A Walk Through the Gates''
* [http://www.yellowecho.com/eventgalleries/the_gates_central_park.htm ''The Gates'' Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.extrageographic.org/magazine/arts/2005/050201_ny_gates.html In Pictures: ''The Gates'' – ''Extrageographic'' Magazine]
* [http://mayslesfilms.com/film/the-gates ''The Gates'', Film by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Antonio Ferrera, Matthew Prinzing, 2007, 87 min]

{{Central Park|state=collapsed}}
{{Albert and David Maysles}}
{{Public art in Manhattan}}
{{Christo and Jeanne-Claude}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, The}}
[[Category:2005 sculptures]]
[[Category:Central Park]]
[[Category:History of Manhattan]]
[[Category:Installation art works]]
[[Category:Public art in New York City]]
[[Category:Vandalized works of art in New York City]]
[[Category:Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude]]