“This is how the world is, this is how humans are,” he says. “Everything that exists must disappear. Now, our art is something that basically cannot be owned, cannot be purchased, cannot be kept. It is ephemeral, and therefore it is free — and it is beautiful.”
Is that all it is, just beauty? Christo furrows his brow, as if not understanding the question. No, nothing more. What should it be? Then he smiles indulgently and says with a shrug: “Now it is there. Soon it will be gone.” And that’s all.
~ Arno Frank, Christo’s Colossal Project in Germany in Spiegel Online. (March 14, 2013)
American artist Christo’s work, titled “Big Air Package,” was meant to be the largest inflatable object of all time. Its volume would rival the ill-fated Hindenburg blimp, still the largest airship ever created. The inflatable package, 94 meters high and 54 meters wide, of “Big Air Package” is made up of 20,350 square meters of specially made milky-white, translucent material the artist calls “ETex Christo.” A specialty firm in the northern city of Lübeck spent 2,800 hours completing 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles) of stitching. The 600 panels of fabric are to be held together by ropes and Velcro, which are meant to allow the 5.3-metric-ton formation to hold as much air as possible.
Notes:
- See More on The Big Air Package
- Photo of Big Air Package by Frank Augstein, AP
- Source: Thank you Beth @ Alive on All Channels
wow
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Love!! ❤️
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if a person could see from behind the white part (sclera) of their eye, I wonder if the experience would be like being inside Christo’s “Big Air Package”? (The sclera, opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the eye containing collagen and elastic fiber.) If one who is inside looks at the top of his balloon’s interior you can see the fiber framework… I wonder what it would what be like to be free floating in his “Big Air Package”? or what is it like to be inside a molecule of water on the side of a piece of dry dandelion seed , one direction clear looking out and the other direction looking into the feathery fluff, as your floating through the air?…Cheisto’s projects are wonderful, on such a massive scale…I traveled to see a friend of mine large outside installation on a hillside, mountain top…it was a sight to behold! I laid on the ground looking up at the installation with the sky as the backdrop and the colors of her installation so vividly saturated and alive moving in the breeze…and I think of the magic of looking being at a hot air balloon festival…being immersed in life I am always looking out and up…
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I love the way Christo ‘thinks big’ and is so much about being in the moment. Yes, his artwork is ephemeral, but so is life. I remember walking through ‘The Gates’ project in Central Park and being transported. His work allows, nay encourages, one to let go and give way to ‘what if’, and ‘just in this moment’ impulses. And in the end, isn’t that what art is really all about…looking at the world through a new lens, challenging one’s previously conceived notions about how things are supposed to look, feel, sound, be. Like Picasso said, The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.’
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Lori, I love that Picasso quote…and such an experience for you to have walked through ‘The Gates’ project…glad you had that opportunity.
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I walked through The Gates as well, and will never forget it. Have a great weekend Lori.
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What an experience for those who the chance to visit Christo’s “Big Air Package”Reminiscent of Ethereal moon glow… with the except that people are inside or the glowing cocoon…
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Would have loved to have stood in there.
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This post immediately brought to mind, this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi50yFMZ49E
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or for the more visually oriented: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgj4iAPVO8k
“All This Useless Beauty” – Elvis Costello – both renditions mentioned here, though I prefer the the first 😉 ) Cheers, David ❤
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I’ve never followed Costello. I listened to both versions and I too prefer the first. Thanks for sharing. Great tune.
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Yes, he, like his wife Diana Krall, is spotty – at least in my opinion. But there is a handful of his songs I really appreciate. This is one of them. Beauty for itself, beauty just … because … because there is a dearth of it in most people’s lives. I think it’s so important – it helps one feel nourished in a desert of depravity. And it’s interesting you preferred the first take, as did I – I wonder if it’s because what we conjure without seeing the production bit is more beautiful in the mind’s imagining of it. ❤
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Beautiful in the mind’s imagining of it. Love that.
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Huh…
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