Watched a documentary tonight about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's massive installation in Central Park called "The Gates". I'll admit I was skeptical through most of it, as the film traced the history and struggles of the project. Even when I heard about it finally being unveiled a few years ago, my reaction was indifferent, at best. "Why?", I wondered... "what for?" While I could imagine that hundreds of fabric panels blowing in the wind must be a spectacle, maybe even beautiful, I could not appreciate any great meaning to the project other than one artist's hunger for massively bold statements.

The documentary was quite interesting. I had no idea of the nearly insurmountable obstacles that had to be overcome (including just the passage of time -decades- and the accompanying maturity of what can only be described as the collective psyche of New York city). About midway through the film there are scenes of Christo being interviewed publicly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When asked to explain the meaning of The Gates he insisted the only reason he embarked on this project was that he wanted to. There was no meaning or purpose other than his own inner urge to realize this vision of his. He was doing it only because he wanted to do it, no matter how irrational it may appear to others. Hearing him say this was a satisfying affirmation for me as this is exactly what I have embarked on, as well. Or what I'm striving for, anyway. To create just from the desire to create... no other purpose or big plan in mind.

The second half of the film is all about the final realization of The Gates, after it's been completely erected and is now a huge installation project over the whole of Central Park. Scene after scene of orange fabric panels, reflecting the light, blowing in the wind, still in the rain, quiet in the snow. Scenes of people walking under and around, looking up into them, curious about what this is, talking to eachother about the experience. Interviews of individuals here and there, giving their reactions and impressions, both positive and negative. As I watched I finally began to appreciate just what a tremendous work of art The Gates really was. Whether Christo actually intended this (and I think he did not -- he was simply being true to his muse) The Gates became something above and beyond the usual paradigm of "art". True to the purpose of art, it engaged people, eliciting reaction and introspection, but it did so on such a hugely grand scale. Although it provided the usual art experience between "viewer" and "art", it also engaged groups of people, whole communities, and an entire city. It challenged people not only to confront the art on their own terms, as individuals, but also as part of any number of larger communities. As such, it became a process of creation BEYOND the physical structures of gates and fabric panels. This is something Christo could not have orchestrated or had a hand in except only indirectly, in following his very personal and individualistic "urge" to create. All of which, for me, is great affirmation of the potential for generative results from simply listening inside and following one's muse, no matter how silly or irrational.