Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Flying Happy

Hard left banking turn over Manhattan.

I did manage to see Christo's Gates the other day, although I must admit I enjoyed it more when seeing it on CNN. I also am still slightly partial to our own faux Christo here in Boston. Art most certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

I heard an important statistic today from Brown Johnson of Nick Jr (home of one of my estranged favorites: SpongeBob SquarePants). Brown said that Gates had increased tourism into NYC by 20%. That's quite an impressive statistic to consider. Maybe in the same way that you can go to any major city in the world and see a Frank Gehry building (or at least find someone trying to sell the idea of putting one up), you'll be able to see a major environmental artwork like Gates. I see nothing wrong with this of course.

A happy economy means happy people. Happy people means that there is an openness to experiences that make people happy. Things like the Gates, which although didn't make me happy in real life, certainly made me happy when I saw it on CNN. It doesn't matter how art can make you happy, or when it can make you happy. The only thing that matters is, are you happy? Be happy.

Posted by maeda at February 25, 2005 03:47 PM