NY NEWS
You may have read about the the proposed defilement--sorry, redefinition--of Central Park by Christo "Unstoppable Force" Javacheff, better known as Christo. For two weeks in 2005, he and his wife Jean-Claude are going to put wavy orange banners all over the property that will flap kitschily in the breeze. Not content just to harass the city's artistic and intellectual rank and file with cattle pens and marksmen on rooftops during the recent protest, Mayor "Call Out the Cops" Bloomberg is now encouraging this egomaniac to hang his laundry all over the park. (Think I should write for the Daily News?--no, they probably supported the cattle pens.) For a better, more thoughtful critique of the project, I recommend Alex Wilson's excellent essay, which also gives a good capsule history of the park and puts Christo in the context of his betters, Frederick Law Olmstead and Robert Smithson.
I just learned from Cursor.org that Art Spiegelman (Maus, Raw) left the New Yorker because of editor David Remnick's baby blanket handling of Bush & Co. Very cool. Spiegelman's wife Francois Mouly still works there, though. I wouldn't mind too much if she vamoosed; I've never been crazy about the illustrations she picks as art director. Anyway, now Ted Rall will have to find someone else to accuse of powermongering in the cartooning world.
Thanks for the link, Tom. I was too easy on 'em.
Now I'm looking at this image, with what appears to be an aerial view in snow on the left, and I'm thinking that what Christo describes as "a river of gold" actually looks like dog urine. The whole project amounts to pissing on the Park.
I think Christo, like George Bush, needs to get some therapy (or a better therapist). According to his bio he's the scion of a Bulgarian industrialist. I imagine him competing for the affection of his mother and being told by one or both parents he'll never amount to anything, and being so scarred by the experience he feels the relentless need to impose himself on the world. I mean, people tell me I need to "get my work out there more" but with maniacs like Christo in the field, always pushing, pushing, pushing, never taking no for an answer to his "vision" of tacky wrapping and flapping, I want to say, "No, the world could use a few more artists quietly hunkered down in their studios, posting stuff on the Internet, thanks."
Hey Mr, Wilson, cussin's too good for the Arboretum? (liked the President's/Christo day post, thanks)
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NY NEWS
You may have read about the the proposed defilement--sorry, redefinition--of Central Park by Christo "Unstoppable Force" Javacheff, better known as Christo. For two weeks in 2005, he and his wife Jean-Claude are going to put wavy orange banners all over the property that will flap kitschily in the breeze. Not content just to harass the city's artistic and intellectual rank and file with cattle pens and marksmen on rooftops during the recent protest, Mayor "Call Out the Cops" Bloomberg is now encouraging this egomaniac to hang his laundry all over the park. (Think I should write for the Daily News?--no, they probably supported the cattle pens.) For a better, more thoughtful critique of the project, I recommend Alex Wilson's excellent essay, which also gives a good capsule history of the park and puts Christo in the context of his betters, Frederick Law Olmstead and Robert Smithson.
I just learned from Cursor.org that Art Spiegelman (Maus, Raw) left the New Yorker because of editor David Remnick's baby blanket handling of Bush & Co. Very cool. Spiegelman's wife Francois Mouly still works there, though. I wouldn't mind too much if she vamoosed; I've never been crazy about the illustrations she picks as art director. Anyway, now Ted Rall will have to find someone else to accuse of powermongering in the cartooning world.
- tom moody 2-21-2003 1:36 am
Thanks for the link, Tom. I was too easy on 'em.
Now I'm looking at this image, with what appears to be an aerial view in snow on the left, and I'm thinking that what Christo describes as "a river of gold" actually looks like dog urine. The whole project amounts to pissing on the Park.
- alex 2-21-2003 6:13 pm
I think Christo, like George Bush, needs to get some therapy (or a better therapist). According to his bio he's the scion of a Bulgarian industrialist. I imagine him competing for the affection of his mother and being told by one or both parents he'll never amount to anything, and being so scarred by the experience he feels the relentless need to impose himself on the world. I mean, people tell me I need to "get my work out there more" but with maniacs like Christo in the field, always pushing, pushing, pushing, never taking no for an answer to his "vision" of tacky wrapping and flapping, I want to say, "No, the world could use a few more artists quietly hunkered down in their studios, posting stuff on the Internet, thanks."
- tom moody 2-21-2003 7:00 pm
Hey Mr, Wilson, cussin's too good for the Arboretum? (liked the President's/Christo day post, thanks)
- steve 2-25-2003 8:01 pm