I accidentally started a fight with a comment on someone else’s blog today. I feel awful about it. It’s like the person whose blog it is invited me to a party and I got drunk and insulted her friends. And I inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings, which I never want to do. Do you know what the worst part is? I was talking about art.
Specifically the Christos the Gates installation in Central Park. Which I haven’t even seen in person, but which I think look quite nice in photos and on TV. And I like the meditative feel of the orange fabric and the way it contrasts with the park and moves in the wind, the notion of art that is open to all people, and the fact that Christos felt so strongly about the Gates that he raised the money to do it himself.
The question of whether or not that money was well spent was raised. I firmly believe that it was, for as I said in my comment, people have needs that go beyond food and shelter. At the same time, I’ve wrestled with the feeling that we should make sure all people have enough food to eat, roofs over their heads, access to medical care etc… before we go spending money on missions to mars and so on. I don’t know where exactly to draw that line. But I do applaud people who use their money to enrich the lives of others instead of just acquiring more possessions.
So, Laila, if you’re reading – I think I managed to outgeek you twice today. I mean, really, who starts a brawl about art?
