Only in New York, kids, can we compare two public art projects back to back. Time was not kind to Christo. Between 1979, when The Gates began, and now, his project became a period piece. There have been a few changes in the art world since the Carter administration--if not in great ideas, then at least in new media. The Gates looked very twenty-five years ago.
One of the revelations of Ashes and Snow, which I took in with about everyone else in New York last night, is how innovative design and new technologies can be used to great effect in public art. Here, the execution outstrips the plans. In the hands of architect Shigeru Ban, a 45,000 square foot basilica of shipping containers, extending out over the Hudson River off Thirteenth Street, becomes a sort of pilgrimage church. Gregory Colbert’s prints decorate the processional, and Colbert’s video of similar images plays in what would be an apse. Yes, Colbert’s work--lush sepia-tone images of elephants and subalterns--borders on the sappy; a Saatchi and Saatchi ad for British Airways come to mind. But Colbert chose to pull out all the stops for his attempt at public art, cliche be damned, and you don’t want to begrudge that. "Ashes and Snow" is a remarkable accomplishment and an example to which innovative public art can aspire. It remains on view through June 6 at Pier 54.
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