Lee Kwok-jin
The most primitive and simple emotion of human beings is curiosity. – There are 34 bridges on the Seine in Paris, including the 12-hole old bridge built in 1606, called Pont Neuf, also known as the Pont Henry IV. Recently, a modern artist in the United States, Christo, wrapped it up with nylon cloth, and the old bridge became a new bridge of modern art for a while, which attracted attention.
Nine years ago, American artists had this artistic “impulse” to wrap up this ancient Parisian building with the aim of sensationalizing the world. By the tenth year, he finally got his wish and convinced the French authorities. From September 20 to October 4, 1985, it was exhibited for 14 days. This time, Christo spent 18 million francs (US$2.25 million)! With this money, it was possible to build a building with an area of 16,640 square meters, but unfortunately, two weeks later, it burned down!
How did the American artist realize his artistic impulse? He used 250 engineers and technicians to overcome countless technical difficulties. What material to use to wrap this behemoth is one of the difficulties. After research and selection, he decided to use a strong, translucent nylon fabric as the overlay, and the color was golden ochre, also known as Île-de-France. In this way, under the gentle sun, it shines brightly, adding a lot of color to the Seine River that looks like a girl’s hairpin. And this bandaged bridge, in the artist’s mind, is like a giant truck full of goods. Before the nylon cloth was put into production, the artist appointed five surveyors and draftsmen to work for two months to map the “new bridge” for the first time in history, including every detail, and recorded all the data. For the convenience of boating, bridge piers and bridge holes should be carefully wrapped; And on both sides of the bridge, slightly relaxed. 40,000 square meters of nylon fabric, ordered from a factory in West Germany; Bridge installation, specially designed and processed by a French professional company. Christo also ordered 12 kilometers of polypropylene rope cable, as well as a large number of steel cables and hemp rope, etc., which were specially processed by manufacturers. The fixing of the bridge is not allowed to be fixed with a nail. To this end, Christo hired a rope expert and a meteorological expert as consultants. Experts decided that rings and rings should be used for fixation. Work under the bridge, hire diving frogmen.
The 51-year-old American modern artist, a painter who earns a considerable amount from selling paintings, personally donates generously, or persuades some tycoons who “understand art” to realize his momentary “inspiration” or “pleasure”.
Christo has become a bit famous, and he is known as “a modern artist who draws inspiration from colored plastic sheeting”. In his artistic career, there have been many “masterpieces”, and his hollowing out of the special works of art such as:
5,600 cubic meters of air bags in West Germany: Over Kassel, West Germany, the world’s largest air bag was built. The air bag is 85 meters high, 10 meters in diameter and weighs 6.3 tons. Christo did a lot of research on the structure and inflation of the air bag, consuming 1,900 square meters of coated cloth, 3,636 meters of rope and 1,818 meters of steel cable to secure this giant air package.
A stretch of beach in Australia: A section of beach in Sitna, Australia, 3 km long and 30 m high in some places. Christo wrapped it up. The exhibition consumed 90,000 meters of corrosion-resistant polypropylene cloth and 54 kilometers of cable over a 10-week period.
Colorado Giant Curtain: On the plains of Colorado, USA, Christo erected a large, orange curtain. The curtain crosses the entire field and valley. Due to the storm, the curtain was removed after only 28 hours.
Roman walls: Christo bandaged the Roman walls, 270 meters long, 15 meters high, 4~5 meters wide. This section of the wall was on display for 40 days.
With a huge white wall, Christo once built a “Great Wall” of white cloth 40 kilometers long and 6 meters high, enveloping many hills and several pastures. He consumes 2.050 fabrics with a total area of 20,000 square meters. 312,000 hooks and 145 km of steel cables were used.
A park in Kansas, USA: Christo bandaged a park in Kansas, USA. It took two days. The area of roads, stairs, bridges, etc. is 9,453 square meters. All wrapped in colored nylon cloth.
Eleven islands in Miami: Christo surrounded eleven islands near Miami, United States, in a ball of rose-colored nylon cloth. The fabric is specially designed to prevent animal damage and seawater corrosion.
For more than two decades, the “best of the West” artist has wrapped in plastic sheeting: a medieval tower, a museum of fine arts in Chicago, a woman in London, a tree in the Netherlands, and a plastic “Great Wall” erected at a cost of five million dollars in the rolling hills of Sonoma County, California.
1789 5,000 years later…