(View from Harlem Meer)

We had a saffron day yesterday. Friends called us up and asked if we wanted to meet them in the park. They were driving in from NJ and have a 4-year old too. They suggested meeting at the 72nd Street entrance to the park, but we said "Naah, come up here, much nicer and less crowded." So we met up by the Harlem Meer.

I do not really want to add another description of The Gates, there are plenty of them out there already. Just a few personal impressions: Usually they are referred to as "fun," and they certainly are immensely joyful and spririt-lifting but at the same time they struck me as formal, processional in their series. I was especially surprised by the effect of the pleats supposedly "he put the pleats in there for the effect of the light shining through." (Some knowledgeable fellow-viewer told me). I found the pleats created a formal yet understated sassy look: reminiscent of the pleats on a formal living-room curtain, but also of the pleats on a prim school-girl's skirt.

What I like best about The Gates is that they are not an artwork you stand in front of and absorb passively (although it is pleasurable to spend a good half hour gazing at them from a good spot, say at the Harlem Meer, and observe the changing light, changes in the movement etc.), but in general they are to be experienced, walked through and around looked at from various angles and spots etc.

I did find that they integrated into the landscape, in way they seemed like mushrooms to me that had sprouted up all over. Walking south from the Meer to the Conservatory Gardens I appreciated little yellow flecks in the distance, suggesting a continuation and connection between our Northern rustic corner, often overlooked, and the "Upper East Side" stretch of the park along Museum Mile.

I was surprised by the variation in the arrangement of the Gates, both in their spacing and in their width. Climbing up the look-out on the South side of the Meer, they were so narrow that only one person could walk through comfortably at one time.

So, yes, it was a wonderful and great experience. The North corner of the park was populous but not overcrowded, about the same amount of people you would expect to find on the first nice Sunday in spring.

I will go back again on a weekday morning by myself and spend more time walking around.  9:29:02 AM