On Saturday, Christo launched his “Gates project in Central Park in New York City. He has installed 7,500 saffron-colored gates on 23 miles of park pathways. These will remain in place till February 28th.
Christo is a French-Bulgarian artist well known for his monumental interventions in public space. He created a “running fence in northern California that ran 24.5 miles across the countryside before plunging into the Pacific ocean.
In 1995, Christo wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin,
In 1983, Christo wrapped 11 islands in Biscayne Bay in hot pink polypropylene.
In a surprise, cobranding/endorsement move, Saran Wrap announced today that it would release a brand called ChristoWrap. “We believe that housework is art and that housewives are artists. ChristoWrap gives homemakers a chance to bring new levels of aesthetic accomplishment to the refrigerator, the kitchen, and the home, said a Saran Wrap representative.
Christo is famous for conscripting non artists as artists. During the making of Running Fence, for instance, he declared that any farmer who objected to the fence was engaged in art. “ChristoWrap will help make artists of us all, he declaimed.
ChristoWrap will remain on the shelves until the end of the month.
References
For more on The Gates project, go here.
For more on the Reichstag wrapped, go here.
For more on the illustrious career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, go here.
last note:
In a last minute announcement, Saran Wrap has said it will give a portion of the proceedings of ChristoWrap sales to the Orson Wells/Alan Sokal Fund for the Perpetuation of Contemporary Apochrypha.
“Orson Wells/Alan Sokal Fund for the Perpetuation of Contemporary Apochrapha”.
Christo wrap!!! ha, ha,ha You are one funny guy, Grant McCracken.
Two small corrections. 1. Christo is originally Bulgarian 2. Apochrypha
Wodek, thanks for the detail and the spelling correction. What would Hargurchet have said! Best, Grant
I would have thought a Lori Keevil-Matthews Foundation a better recipient of Christo’s largesse.
Kevrob, I had to look Keevil-Matthews up. (She was, for those who would have to do the same, is a woman killed by a Christo exhibit.) Good point. Thanks. Grant
my mom was Lori Rae Keevil-Mathews the woman killed by Christo. what foundation are you talking about? J. Keevil
Jenn, there is no foundation.
Christos was devestated that this art was responsible for the death of
Lori Rae Keevil-Mathews, though his attorney tried to pull some shit
about her “falling” just before the umbrella shook loose. Thankfully,
the Kern County coroner determined that the injuries Lori sustained that
resulted in her untimely death we caused by being hit by the umbrella.
Christos paid a VERY LARGE amount of money to settle with Lori’s family,
Including a hefty trust fund for Lori’s then 8 year old daughter, Jennifer
Lori Keevil-Mathews was my mother’s best friend, and a second mother to
me, to this day, I respect Christos for ultimately doing what was right,
and closing the exhibit out of respect, and being so financially
generous with the trust fund for Jennifer, and I understand that he never
intended for his work to hurt anyone….but it still leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.
I met him at Lori’s memorial service. He was visibly shattered and crying.
He did the best he could to right the wrong that nature and his art caused, and for that I am grateful, however he has ruined umbrellas for me. Even in my cocktails…I feel resentment. I would rather walk around in the rain, than use an umbrella.