THE SOMERVILLE GATES

Only a few short weeks ago, Mr. Geoff Hargadon was kind enough to include work in our Big RED: Green event. Not a moment too soon, now that fame has grabbed him by the collar and is taking him for a ride -- an unofficial poll reveals that his URL was the most forwarded email of last week!

On top of his Internet fame, the 'real' press has come calling. That's right, Hargo has been featured recently in a long list of reputable news outlets, including: The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, Fox News, CNN, CNN International, several European magazines and newspapers, San Francisco Chronicle, Taipei Times, El Colombiano and many more.

Big RED & Shiny dropped a few questions via email to Hargo, pondering his new-found fame, and his feelings on certain orange gates recently on view in New York's Central Park.

BRS: You say that your gates are not related to Christo's gates in NYC, however the timing of your piece seems somewhat suspicious. Can you talk about why you chose to present your gates now?

GH: Who is Christo? Never heard of the guy.

BRS: The Somerville Gates have garnered a lot of attention recently. Where have they turned up, and do you feel that Christo should be worried about the competition?

GH: There is no competition in the art world. It's a free-for-all. If someone wants to copy me by putting up a bunch of gates in some park, and I mean really big ones... well, that's ok with me, as long as there isn't a proportionately-sized cat that comes with it.

BRS:Christo chose New York while you chose Somerville. Can you talk about the significance of the different sites, and why you feel that Somerville deserves its own gates?

GH: I chose Somerville because that's where I live, that way I could see them all the time, and there wouldn't be as many people. I made 13 gates, which I believe is exactly the same amount of gates per capita as New York apparently has. (You said New York has gates?)

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Not one to let the artistic accomplishments of one of his citizens go unnoticed, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone declared February 24, 2005 "Hargo Day". According to The Boston Globe, Curtatone declared: Hargo Day was established to recognize the importance of thrift, ingenuity, and artistic parity. Hargo Day was established to also recognize the human capacity for appreciation, wonder, and awe that can be achieved when small plastic things are arranged in a certain order near and around a cat.