The other day I learned, in a
New York Times article, that Christo—
who died last year at the age of 84—had one last project to spring on the world, at Paris's Arc de Triomphe. It is up now, until early October. I immediately wrote to my niece, who lives not too very far away, to ask if she'd go see it "for me." She responded with a phone call, and a good hour-plus conversation. It was so nice to chat! But to my request, she said no. She's got a sick dog and needs to be with her. Fair enough. Plus, she's never heard of Christo. Also, fair enough. But yeah, I was a little disappointed. I rather thought this might be an interesting experience for her. Why? Christo's audacity maybe? She would be participating in the communal taking-in of the transformation of a weighty memorial—into momentary erasure and beautification at once? It's the
Arc de Triomphe, for crying out loud. A monumental undertaking! But, no. Not gonna happen. And... it's fine.
I first encountered
Christo and his wife and artistic partner Jeanne-Claude when they planted 3,100 giant umbrellas in California (southern San Joaquin Valley, north of Los Angeles) and Japan (Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo), in 1991. Unfortunately, I learned about the project after the fact—they tend to last two weeks, and then, whoosh, gone—so I couldn't witness it firsthand. Many years earlier, they'd stretched a fence of white cloth across 25 miles of Marin County. These are my spaces. I loved it that they used my known territory to make us look again, reevaluate just what these places mean.
Five years ago, Christo and Jeanne-Claude mounted
The Floating Piers in northern Italy, and I similarly wrote to a friend who lives nearby and asked her to go experience it "for me." She did! With family and friends! She sent me photos! I was so happy!
Here are some of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's projects, with links to descriptions. I'm so glad they wrought their magic on the earth—
all at their own expense. (They sold their drawings to raise funds.) Theirs was a personal labor of love, creativity, and inspiration.
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The Umbrellas, Ibaraki, Japan, 1991
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