This is reality

The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi, Project for the United Arab Emirates
(detail)
Collaged photograph, 1979, 56 x 35cm
New York, Collection Jeanne-Claude Christo
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

The principal works by the Christos currently in progress, the Reichstag aside, are The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi, Project for the United Arab Emirates; The Gates Project for Central Park New York City; and Over the River, Project for the Western USA, the exact location of which has not yet been decided at the time of writing.

The Mastaba project has a prehistory. A mastaba was an ancient architetural form (a tomb) with two vertical walls, two slant walls, and a flat top. In 1968, the Christos made their first project with this title, consisting of over 1,200 oil barrels, in connection with their exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. The structure over 6 meters high, 9 wide, and 12 deep was installed inside the Museum. Then in 1969 the Christos worked on a mastaba for Houston, Texas, consisting of 124,000 barrels. Christo produced drawings, pastels and collages, but the project was not realized.

The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi, Project for the United Arab Emirates
Drawing, 1978
Pencil, charcoal, pastel and crayon, 71 x 56cm
Private collection
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi is conceived as a symbol of the Emirate and of the greatness of Sheikh Zayed, according to the Christos' release, and of the civilization of oil throughout the world. It is planned to be higher and more massive than the Pyramid of Cheops near Cairo. There is a self-evident logic, of course, in choosing the world's greatest oil-producing center, the Gulf, as the site for a project that will use almost 400,000 oil barrels. Another logic of a more whimsically appealing nature lies in the proposed accord between oil barrels of many and various colors and Islamic tile mosaics: this level of analogy arguably makes The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi one of the Christos' most challenging projects.

A mastaba was originally an ancient Egyptian tomb in which offerings were made in an outer chamber. In an inner chamber would be a figure of the deceased person, with a shaft leading down to the grave proper. In other words, a mastaba had a purpose: sacred, ritual, devotional, it was a monument that served memory and honor. Their projected Mastaba is quite unlike this; its sole purpose is to exist, as a large sculptural artefact. The barrels, lain horizontally on their sides, will (if the project is realized) add up to a total structure so large that a number of forty-story skyscrapers could comfortably be fitted into the volume; but there will be no ingress except for a passageway to an elevator to take visitors to the top, 150 meters above ground level, from where they will enjoy views 50 kilometers into the surrounding country. The sense of occasion, the experience of the thing, will be its entire purpose.

The walkways' area approaching the Mastaba will strike the visitor as an oasis, with its flowers and grass. Palm trees, eucalyptus, thorns and other shrubs will also be planted around the mastaba at some distance, to serve as a windbreak, minimizing the force of sandstorms and winds. The project description envisions a worship room (as well as parking and other facilities) in this somewhat distant area; the mention of worship is a tactful reminder of the original function of such structures, and a courtesy to the Islamic world, but at present, despite the Christos' having published a detailed exhibition catalogue in Arabic, the project has not been approved.

The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City
Collage, 1994 in two parts
Pencil, fabric, charcoal, crayon and map
30.5 x 77.5 and 66.7 x 77.5cm
New York, Collection Jeanne-Claude Christo
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City represents a lighter side of the Christos' work, the side seen so well in The Umbrellas or Surrounded Islands, rather than the monumental side that has repeatedly been drawn to massive architectural structures. The Gates are planned to be about five meters high, the width varying to suit the width of the paths, and will be set up on the pathways of Central Park, spaced at intervals of about three meters. Attached to the top of each steel frame will be an orange-colored fabric panel; in the right breeze, these synthetic woven panels will wave aloft towards the next gate.

When the Christos originally conceived the project in 1980, they hoped that installation could be effected for a fortnight in October 1983 or 1984; but in fact the project has yet to be realized. At the time, they provided written undertakings that neither New York City nor the park would bear any of the expenses, and proposed drawing up a contract similar to that made with the authorities in California for the Running Fence project. Such a contract would require the Christos to provide personal and property insurance exempting the Department of Parks from all liability; to prepare a statement on the project's environmental impact, if required; to restore all the park territory involved to its original state after the removal of The Gates; and, throughout, to co-operate fully with all the relevant authorities. The Christos proposed to employ only Manhattan residents for the work, to pay the cost of Park supervision, and to guarantee access for maintenance and all emergency vehicles. They also assured that no rock or vegetation formations would be disturbed, or wildlife patterns interfered with. In a word, the Christos made their proposal in a manner that has become tantamount to a trademark: well thought out, scrupulous, considerate, diplomatic, and, above all, with an attractive sense of organized responsibility. The tactics have become part of the art.

Refusal report by the New York Parks Commissioner on the temporary work of art The Gates
Project for Central Park, New York City, 1981
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

The Gates project would underline the organic, in an airy contrast with the geometrical grid of Manhattan. It would complement the beauty of Central Park. At present, though, the project remains unrealized. In the 1980s, after the Christos had submitted detailed proposals and studies, the City Commissioner of Parks unfortunately issued a 200-page report refusing permission.

Over the River, the Christos' newest project, was begun in 1992. Christo made drawings and collages of several potential sites (but at the time of writing no decision on a location has yet been taken, nor on the color of fabric to be used). The concept involves suspending fabric panels horizontally above the waters of a river, following its shapes and course and changing widths where the waters are calm, and equally where they are white with turbulence. Steel cables anchored on the banks will serve to hang woven nylon panels, down to within 48 meters of the water, and these draped panels will be arranged along a length of river 6.5 to 10 kilometers long, with interruptions for bridges, rocks, trees or bushes allowing light to flow in copiously. Covered or tented, the river will be transformed by the luminous play of sunlight through the fabric, and for two weeks Over the River, all being well, will be a rare and unusual enhancement of the natural and recreational river environment.

Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado
Drawing, 1992
Pencil, charcoal, pastel and crayon
106.6 x 165cm
New York, Collection Jeanne-Claude Christo
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

Christo's limited editions of lithographs, prints and objects (of which some 150 have appeared since 1963) contain work of extraordinary value and have served a variety of purposes essential to the Christos' more familiar and spectacular projects. Sales of these editions raise funds; and financing costly public projects is always a challenge. (Even so, the Christos have made numerous goodwill donations to museums and institutions.) The editions constitute records of projects realized or not, and are thus an invaluably permanent archive of the Christos' temporary art.

The first of Christo's editions (in 1963) was the folded and wrapped German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel (each object in the edition containing a different issue). It was followed by a wrapped Look magazine, roses, and boxes. There were editions related to the Store Fronts or the Kassel Air Package (1968), to projects for a wrapped Arc de Triomphe or the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the wrapped Australian coastline and the Valley Curtain, and many more, in a variety of forms: as lithographs, collages, scale models, and as limited editions of photographs by Harry Shunk and Wolfgang Volz. Christo's work in this field is too diverse and prolific to give any full account of it here, but the reader can be referred to the excellent catalogue raisonn‚ published in 1988 by Edition Schellmann (Munich/New York), an updated edition of which is cur-rently in preparation. In addition, the gifted Wolfgang Volz, long-time friend and associate of the Christos, has produced portfolios of photographs of the Running Fence, Surrounded Islands and other projects. By all of these means an art essentially temporary is enabled to make an enduring impact, not only in the memories of those who witnessed the Christos' creations on site.

Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado
Drawing, 1992
Pencil, charcoal, pastel and crayon
106.6 x 165cm
New York, Collection Jeanne-Claude Christo
Foto: Wolfgang Volz

In a working life in art that now spans over three decades, the Christos have created a vast and diverse body of work, and, while never ceasing to attract controversy, now number not only among the best known but also (a rare gift) among the most loved and respected of contemporary artists. The global scope of their artistic thinking is apparent both in their striking choices of locations and in their undauntedness in the face of difficulties. Global scope too often implies commercial trivialization, but the Christos are quick to make the necessary distinctions. Most art, Christo has observed, comes in the form of blockbuster exhibitions, which are little better than Disneyland. Our projects are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. They are about freedom. Our bourgeois society has the notion of art as merchandise available only to limited audiences. With our art you do not need tickets to see it. In this antipathy to conventional ideas of art consumption, we can detect both Christo's roots in the Communist bloc and an entirely individual determination to serve populist ideals of universal availability. At the same time, the unfailing energy, vision and commitment of both Christo and Jeanne-Claude have equipped them perfectly for success in an art world increasingly governed by market forces, a world that now requires artists to have unusual drive.

Speaking about their philosophy behind their projects, Christo told us: While our temporary works of art all contain, at various degrees, elements of social, political, economic and environmental concerns, they also have aspects of painting, architecture, sculpture and urban planning. For instance, the Surrounded Island might look like a giant flat shaped canvas. The Pont Neuf Wrapped with its folds and draperies shows the image of a classical sculpture, but the bridge, while wrapped continued to be architecture, people were walking on the bridge, cars were rolling, boats were passing under the arches. The Umbrellas, JapanUSA definitely had more to do with urban planning, it included the rice fields, gas stations, houses, grazing land, churches, temples, schools, hills, river, mountains.

When we are asked by painters or sculptors how we can work for 4 or 6 or 10 or 21 years on the same project, they do not realize what is inherent to each one of our works, they would not ask the same question to architects or urban planners, because it is obvious that creating a bridge, a skyscraper, a highway or an airport does take many years.

I shall give Christo himself the last word. Interviewed by Balkan Magazine (November/December 1993) he remarked: Our projects are not something out of fantasy. Fantasy is what we find in the cinema and the theatre, our imaginative notion of things. But when we feel the real wind, the real sun, the real river, the mountain, the roads this is reality, and we use it in our work. Our projects carry that reality.