1.089 million yards of orange fabric

Judging from photos I’ve seen on the web, Central Park in New York is looking stunning right now – and orange. Against the stark winter background, winding its way along the park’s paths, is a trail of orange ‘gates’ with orange pleated fabric hanging off each one. It’s a piece of art by Christo, unveiled on Saturday and scheduled to be dismantled in 16 days time.

From nytimes.com

“The giant $21 million art project “The Gates“, which had already filled the park’s 23 miles of pathways with thousands of saffron-colored portals, blossomed yesterday at 8:31 a.m., just as the artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, had planned.

Each and every one of the 7,500 gates had the same cocoon of fabric, and after Mr. Bloomberg had unfurled four more, workers (hired and paid by the artists) fanned out through the park to complete the job.

By midmorning, the park’s circulatory system had taken on the bright color of veins twisting and twirling against the gray-and-brown backdrop of midwinter. The pleated nylon fabric pulsed and swayed at the whim of a 12-mile-an-hour wind – not strong enough to make it snap like a spinnaker on an America’s Cup challenger. The color was almost as fiery and fierce as the sun that had risen a couple of hours earlier.“

I must say I’m completely mesmerised by the whole thing. The photos and the concept. I have a photo hanging on my wall already and my eyes keep straying to it. I got goose bumps when I first saw the slide-show of photos on nytimes.com and I’m now completely distracted …

(By the way, 1.089 million yards is 995 781.6 metres).

… and my favourite …