christo and jeanne-claude

Christo and

Jeanne-Claude

Wrapped Cans and Bottles, 1958-59

Museum of Contemporary Art, WrappedChicago 1968-69

5,600 Cubicmeter PackageDocumenta 4, Kassel, Germany 1968

• At the occasion of the Documenta IV 1968, in Kassel, Germany, Christo and Jeanne-Claude created the largest ever inflated structure without a skeleton. After 3 unsuccessful attempts, it was erected on August 3, 1968 with the assistance of five cranes

• The pair of giant cranes elevated the inflated air package from its horizontal position on the ground to its vertical position.

• The heat sealed fabric envelope was restrained by a net made of 3,500 meters of rope specially prepared by professional riggers The elevation took 9 hours.

• Once elevated, the 5,600 cubic meter package stood 85 meters (279 ft.) tall, with a diameter of 10 meters (33 ft.).

• The steel cradle was hinged on a central steel column anchored in a one-ton concrete foundation.

• Air pressure was maintained by a centrifugal blower run by a variable -speed electric motor. A gasoline generator stood by, in case of power failure.

• To keep the air package in its vertical position, steel guy wires were anchored to 12 embedded concrete foundations, which were completely removed when the air package was taken down three months later..

• The land was restored to its original condition.

Wrapped Coast,Little Bay, Australia1968-69

Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72

Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72

Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties,California 1972-76

Running Fence, 5.5 meters (eighteen feet) high, 40 kilometers (twenty-four and half miles) long, extending East-West near Freeway 101, north of San Francisco, on the private properties of fifty-nine ranchers, following rolling hills and dropping down to the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Bay, was completed on September 10, 1976.

Wrapped Walk Ways, Loose Park,Kansas City, Missouri. 1977-78

Surrounded Islands, Project for Miami1982 Drawing in two parts

Since April 1981, attorneys Joseph Z. Fleming, Joseph W. Landers, marine biologist Dr. Anitra Thorhaug, ornithologists Dr. Oscar Owre and Meri Cummings, mammal expert Dr. Daniel Odell, marine engineer John Michel, 4 consulting engineers, and builder-contractor, Ted Dougherty of A & H Builders,Inc. had been working on the preparation of the Surrounded Islands. The marine and land crews picked up debris from the eleven islands, putting refuse in bags and carting it away after they had removed some forty tons of varied garbage: refrigerator doors, tires,kitchen sinks, mattresses and an abandoned boat.

• On May 4, 1983, out of a total work force of 430, the unfurling crew began to blossom the pink fabric. Surrounded Islands was tended day and night by 120 monitors in inflatable boats.

• Surrounded Islands was a work of art which underlined the various elements and ways in which the people of Miami live, between land and water.

The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Project for Paris1985 Drawing in two parts

The Umbrellas, Project for Japan and Western USA1987 Collage in two parts

In Japan, The Umbrellas, free standing dynamic modules, reflected the availability of the land in each valley, creating an invitational inner space, as houses without walls, or temporary settlements and related to the ephemeral character of the work of art. In the precious and limited space of Japan, The Umbrellas were positioned intimately, close together and sometimes following the geometry of the rice fields. In the luxuriant vegetation enriched by water year round, The Umbrellas (Japan) were blue.

The Umbrellas, Japan – USA

1984-91

The Wall, Project for Gasometer,Oberhausen, GermanyDrawing 1998

The Wall - 13,000 Oil BarrelsGasometer, Oberhausen, Germany 1999

The Gasometer• The Gasometer is one of the largest

tank structures in the world. It was built in 1928 to store the gaseous by-products of iron ore processing. The Gasometer has recently been used as exhibit and event space. The round structure is 110 meter (360 feet) high by 68 meters (223 feet) in diameter.

Over The River, Project For Arkansas River, ColoradoCollage In two parts 1993

Fabric panels suspended horizontally clear of and high above the water level will follow the configuration and width of the changing course of the river, during a period of two consecutive weeks to be selected between mid-July and mid-August 1999.

The woven fabric panels, sewn in advance, with rows of grommets at the edges perpendicular to the river, will create shimmering waves of fabric, 10 to 23 feet above the river bed. The 6.7 mile long stream of successive panels, will be interrupted by bridges, rocks, trees, bushes and for esthetic reasons, creating abundant flows of light.

Wide clearance between the banks and the edges of the fabric panels will create a play of contrast allowing sunlight to illuminate the river on both sides. When seen from underneath, standing on the rocks at the edge of the river, at water level or by rafting, the luminous and translucent fabric will highlight the contours of the clouds, the mountains and the vegetation.

The Gates, Project for Central Park, New YorkCollage: 28" x 22"Christo 1981

On January 22, 2003 Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, announced that the city has given permission to New York artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to realize their temporary work of art:The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005.

The 7500 Gates, 16 feet high with a width varying from 6 to 18 feet will follow the edges of the walkways and will be perpendicular to the selected 23 miles of footpaths in Central Park. Free hanging saffron colored fabric panels suspended from the horizontal top part of the gates will come down to approximately 7 feet above the ground.

The gates will be spaced at 10 to 15 foot (3 to 4.5 meter) intervals allowing the synthetic woven panels to wave horizontally towards the next gate and be seen from far away through the leafless branches of the trees. The temporary work of art The Gates is scheduled for February 2005, to remain for 16 days, then the 7,500 Gates shall be removed and the materials will be recycled

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net