Myron. Let's talk.

"To the editor of City Journal, Myron Magnet, the installation is 'oppressive, claustrophobic,' and reminiscent of some of Mr. Bloomberg's policies," reports The New York Sun [via Lucianne] re some prominent New Yorkers' decision to use Christo's transcendant "The Gate" (which we out here in the provinces will never see on the ground and can only fantasize about) to make a number of relevant political points. As we noted yesterday, some of our fave opinion-shapers, including Lucianne herself, hopped onto this wild-and-wacky bandwagon. But Myron Magnet?  We know, we know.  All politics is local, but. We just happened to know Myron way back when.

Yes.  Now it can be told.  He -- a shining senior at Phillips Exeter -- and we -- valedictorian at Exeter High (known as Little Mary Jameson in those days) -- met primly and properly in the Parish Hall of the Unitarian Church at heavily chaperoned Saturday night dances and Sunday afternoon LRY (Liberal Religious Youth) roundtable discussions of the topics of the day. He was already in love and committed with all his heart and soul to the girl back home but took this insecure young cutie under his wing (hubba, hubba), playing Cyrano to a boring fellow Exeter student we just weren't interested in and gifting us at the end of the semester with a small volume of John Donne poetry annotated with special reference to "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning." Now you know where we stand on Myron.  A prince.  We'd love to know everything about the genesis of his take on Christo's "The Gate."  More from the Sun:

A New York-based Democratic consultant, Howard Wolfson, said that while he's "no art critic or connoisseur," he thinks "The Gates," from a political standpoint, demonstrates to New Yorkers that their mayor's priorities are out of step with their own.

Mr. Wolfson, to whom the installation resembles "orange schmattes on sticks," asserted that while the 7,500 rectangular arches haven't done any harm to the city, they may do harm to the mayor's image as the Republican runs for re-election.

"I don't want to make too much of this. I don't think 'The Gates' are a huge argument for defeating Mike Bloomberg. But you're talking about the man's public perception and his image," Mr. Wolfson said.

"I don't hear him talking about making housing affordable, or improving our schools. I hear the mayor talking about three things: the Olympics, the stadium, and 'The Gates.' If those are his priorities, I guarantee you they're not the priorities of average New Yorkers," he said.

Same old same old, but we couldn't disagree more -- coming from our landscape-architectural background at Radcliffe Seminars and Harvard's Design School -- with Myron's take:

"This mayor seems to pride himself on his advanced tastes in art, just as he prides himself on progressive and advanced politics," Mr. Magnet said. "The fact is, this is not progressive. It is not life-enhancing. It does not speak of the liberty of the individual. Like so much of modern architecture, it speaks of some totalitarian system, be it corporate or state bureaucracy, in the face of which the individual is just a small cog in a great machine. It says, 'By God, you will go where Mr. and Mrs. Christo lead you.' "

Myron.  Let's talk. Christo is an immigrant from a totalitarian state. His work is the opposite of anything totalitarian or "not life-enhancing." To us out here in the sticks, "The Gate" looks like a gateway to freedom for the imagination to soar.

Comments

[Tuck]

I read and appreciate Myron's writings quarterly. These current remarks now lead me to question his opinion. Myron: Lighten Up !