“For those who walked through the walkways, the saffron-colored fabric was a golden ceiling creating warm shadows. When seen from the buildings, it seemed like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and highlighting the shape of the meandering footpaths.”
-Christo on The Gates (1997-2005)
If you had over 116,389 miles of nylon thread specially woven into over one million square feet of recyclable rip stop fabric, what would you do with it? Artists Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon had it cut into an assortment of 7,503 fabric panels for what would one day become an awe inspiring display of commanding and sculptural vinyl poles supporting saffron colored nylon panels lining the serpentine walkways of Central Park in New York City. On February 12, 2005, this 25 year long labor of artistic love and devotion was revealed as The Gates, and revelled over for sixteen days straight by awestruck visitors and leaving a lasting impression on their minds forever.
“The branches of the “Wrapped Trees” pushing translucent fabric outward created dynamic volumes of light and shadow, moving in the wind with new forms and surfaces shaped by the ropes on the fabric.”
-Christo & Jeanne-Claude, on Wrapped Trees (1997-98)
Starting on Friday, November 13, 1998, 178 trees were wrapped with over 592,000 sq. ft of woven polyester fabric and 14.35 miles of rope in Switzerlands Berower Park. The wrapping was completed on November 22. The result, a serene yet beautifully haunting landscape from one season to the next.
“The luminous pink color of the shiny fabric was in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited verdant island, the light of the Miami sky and the colors of the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay.”
“Surrounded Islands was a work of art which underlined the various elements and ways in which the people of Miami live, between land and water.”
-Christo & Jeanne-Claude, on Surrounded Islands (1980-83)
If you could paint an island any color, what color would it be? On May 7, 1983 Christo and Jeanne-Claude added the last installation of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric around a total of eleven islands situated in Biscayne Bay in Florida. Simply titled Surrounded Islands, over 6.5 million sq. ft and 79 patterns were used to complete the contours of the islands. For two weeks the public enjoyed this splash of pink from air, land and sea.
And I thought 100 yards of fabric was alot!
Inspiration or intimidation? We would love to hear what you think.
Email us back at netfah@jandofabrics.com and receive a 10% discount on your next online fabric order at J&O Fabrics.
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