Art Impacts The Environment: Jeanne-Claude and Christo
By Melissa Vest
Filed Under Arts & Culture |
Imagine a sea of saffron colored panels blowing in the wind. They are almost as light as air, and they are in front of the trees, the sky, and the ground. They are impossible to miss. You move closer to them, and can hear them rippling over the sounds of cars, the birds, and the breeze in the trees. As you walk through each gate of panels you feel them pushing the wind across your face. Your awareness of the space you are in is heightened as you experience these panels, which reach as far as you can see.
The Gates, an artwork by Jeanne-Claude and Christo, transformed Central Park in 2005. Their work was met with a wide array of interest and speculation. No matter your opinion of the work, it certainly altered the way you would experience the surrounding environment. Jeanne-Claude and Christo’s work might be less common in a typical American home than say, the florescent light bulb, Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” or the hybrid car, but it has nonetheless had an impact on the environmental movement.
These partners (in life and art) have constructed installations on an absolutely massive scale since 1962. However, throughout the process, they make sure to build the projects with concern for the environmental impact. According to Christo they restore all sites to their original condition and sometimes even leave habitats in better condition than they were found. “The other exception where we did not at all restore the place to its original condition is the Surrounded Islands. Before we installed our fabric, we had our workers remove 42 tons of garbage off the beaches of those islands. We never brought the garbage back,” he pointed out.
With a commitment to eliminating any negative environmental impact, the artists spend years researching their project sites. According to their website, “The Audubon Society and the Sierra Club usually find themselves on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s side – because they are better informed. They know how much Christo and Jeanne-Claude spend to make the public aware of the environment, through the art work…”
Creating awareness of the environment is certainly achieved through their art. With The Gates, the viewer undoubtedly saw the space, in that case Central Park, in a different light. Jeanne-Claude and Christo are currently constructing a piece called Over the River. It will span five miles of the Arkansas River in Colorado. The artwork will alternate see-through fabric spanning the waterway with open space.
Again, this project aims to transform the environment, so that a viewer might again become aware of the space around them. For instance, if you were rafting down the Arkansas River, you would come to an area covered with 6.7 miles of billowing white fabric. The fabric resembles sails, and will reveal patches of the sky above.
Over The River is slated to be constructed by 2012, and will be up for a mere 14 days. The artists describe the project saying, “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.” What might this experience teach us about the environment? Will it cause us to engage, to consider in a deeper way the earth around us?
Over The River will most certainly draw attention to a pristine natural habitat and change our perceptions of Colorado, of the Arkansas River. Hopefully these works by Jeanne-Claude and Christo create a platform for individuals to discuss the environment and interact with it differently. That’s all an idea can ask for…Al Gore uses a Power Point, Jeanne-Claude and Christo use nature itself.
If you’re interested in seeing more examples of Jeanne-Claude and Christo’s work…
- Read More about Jeanne-Claude and Christo at ChristoJeanneClaude.net
- Buy a poster of Jeanne-Claude and Christo’s work, supporting Nurture New York’s Nature : 40 Years of Public Art
- Book a Rafting Tour of the Arkansas River: Arkansas River Tours
Posted on July 18, 2008 |
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3 Responses to “Art Impacts The Environment: Jeanne-Claude and Christo”
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I heard JC and Christo “recycle” their fabric when they’re finished with it. Do you know exactly what they do with it? Do they reuse it, give it to a charitable organization?
Transforming the public spaces into works of art is just bringing color, aesthetic beauty, and focus to the greatest masterpieces ever made- but because we see them every day, we forget how majestic they truly art- Mother Nature’s masterpiece which is called Earth. I am left in a state of extreme contemplation and awe at such majestic artistic expression. If only more people dared to dream on that level!
With gratitude and light,
Peppermint Patty
The notion of their work seems to aim to enable people to look parts of the natural world in a way that they may not have seen before. As long as it is mindfully done with no negative impact (which it sounds like it is), art is art for the sake of art. Simple, beautiful things sometimes require great effort to produce.