The floating piers

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Floating Piers, artwork by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Floating Piers 2016 - Visitors to the island of San Paolo
San Paolo Island with the piers
Aerial view of the entire installation

The Floating Piers was a temporary installation in Italy by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in a public space. It existed from June 18 to July 3, 2016 for exactly 16 days. The Floating Piers was the first major project that Christo completed without his wife.

description

Christo installed walkable floating jetties covered with dahlia yellow fabric on Lake Iseo . They led from Sulzano to the island of Monte Isola and circled the island of Isola di San Paolo . The 16 meter wide walkways had no handrail and were designed to slope gently towards the water. Because of this and their slightly swaying movement, they gave the impression of walking directly on the water. The yellow fabric was laid on the floating bodies with small folds. The material of the fabric was designed in such a way that the color changed slightly depending on the incidence of light and the direction of view. In addition, it was regularly wetted with water at the edge by the waves of passing boats, so that the edge area looked darker. Christo described the feeling of walking on the floating piers as follows: “ Those who experienced The Floating Piers felt like they were walking on water - or perhaps the back of a whale. The light and water transformed the bright yellow fabric to shades of red and gold. "(German:" Those who experienced the floating piers felt like walking on the water - or maybe like on the back of a whale. The light and the water changed the yellow of the fabric into shades between red and gold. ")

A footbridge connected the town of Sulzano with the village of Peschiera Maraglio on the island of Monte Isola . Two footbridges ran from Monte Isola to a villa on the island of San Paolo , which has been in the possession of the family of owners of the gun manufacturer Beretta for decades . The total length of the bridges was three kilometers. In addition, another 2.5 kilometers of paths in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio were covered with the yellow fabric.

As a temporary site-specific art installation, the floating piers became a travel and adventure destination for international tourism. The town of Sulzano, which has around 1,900 inhabitants, had to be closed to traffic due to the influx of visitors and was only accessible on foot for visitors. In order to direct the flow of visitors, the visitors were led to Sulzano via hiking trails. The walkways were barrier-free and also accessible for wheelchairs, prams and walkers.

Occasional storms and the enormous number of visitors on the weekends sometimes led to chaotic conditions. The installation was then closed between midnight and 6 a.m. for cleaning and repairs. The project ended on July 3, 2016 and the number of visitors was estimated at 1.3 million people over the entire duration.

Manufacturing

The bars were made up of cube-shaped polyethylene floats. On the one hand, this enabled mobility and, on the other hand, stability and security were preserved. The floating bodies on the edge were shaped so that their flat side edge was approximately level with the waterline. The floating bodies were used to assemble 16-meter-wide rafts , which were then connected to one another to form continuous jetties on the lake. The jetties were attached to the bottom of the lake with 220 weight anchors weighing around 6 tons .

75,000 m² of orange-red plastic fabric was laid on the footbridges and paths. The polyamide yarn for the fabric was spun by PHP Fibers from Wuppertal, a subsidiary of the Thai Indorama Ventures. The yarn was dyed by the Wuppertal-based company of the Wylach brothers. The yarn and paint were heated together to create that exact shade. The fabric was woven by Setex-Textil GmbH in Greven , who produced the fabric for Christo's installation Wrapped Reichstag as early as 1995 . The fabric was cut and made up by geo - Die Luftwerker from Lübeck . This was also involved in the 3D measurement and construction.

financing

The project was financed by the artist couple themselves. The cost was $ 15 million. Funding from the Beretta family was always denied, but Umberta Gnutti Beretta and her husband Franco, according to their own statements, helped establish contacts in local politics. Christo received criticism for this collaboration with the arms manufacturer's owners.

history

The artwork was planned by the artist couple 40 years earlier. It should enable people to walk on water. The weather was taken into account in the planning. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009, so the work had to be done without her.

Literature and film

Web links

Commons : The Floating Piers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ dpa: "Floating Piers" close the rush of visitors unbroken. In: sueddeutsche.de . July 1, 2016, accessed August 3, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Project "Floating Piers" in Italy - Walking across the water with Christo and Setex. In: Deutschlandfunk. June 17, 2016, accessed June 18, 2016 .
  3. ^ Thoralf Winkler: The Floating Piers. In: Sun laughs - aperture eight. July 1, 2016, accessed April 10, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Floating Piers - artist Christo on Lake Iseo. (No longer available online.) In: gardasee.de. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016 ; Retrieved July 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gardasee.de
  5. ^ A b Wolfgang Koch: Floating Piers: Christo's idyllic capitalism on Lake Iseo (2/2). In: taz.blogs . July 1, 2016, accessed July 2, 2016 .
  6. ↑ "The Floating Piers": Christo installation triggers visitor chaos. In: Zeit Online. June 22, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Elisabeth Dostert: German raw material for Christ. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. December 26, 2015, accessed June 1, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b Wuppertal companies supply material for Christo. In: wdr.de. June 17, 2016, accessed July 3, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Guided tour through the company Gebr. Wylach. (No longer available online.) In: Wuppertal live. Archived from the original on July 3, 2016 ; Retrieved July 4, 2016 .
  10. ^ Tillmann Neuscheler: The material for Christos See project. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. April 21, 2016, online at: faz.net
  11. ↑ Holger Christmann: Umberta Beretta. The queen of arms . July 1, 2016, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed July 31, 2019]).
  12. ↑ Walking across the water. July 1, 2016, accessed July 31, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Art and creaking: Not everyone likes Christo's cooperation with the arms manufacturer Beretta. Accessed July 31, 2019 .
  14. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): When criticism against questionable sponsors changes the art world. July 26, 2019, accessed July 31, 2019 (UK English).
  15. ↑ Meet the Beretta Family, the Art-Savvy Gun Makers Who Back the NRA and the Venice Biennale. April 16, 2018, Retrieved July 31, 2019 (American English).
  16. ↑ See Photos From Christo's 'The Floating Piers'. In: Time . June 22, 2016, accessed July 2, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Elisabetta Povoledo: Christo's Newest Project: Walking on Water. In: The New York Times . June 16, 2016, accessed July 2, 2016 .
  18. ^ Sha / dpa / AP: Christo companion: artist Jeanne-Claude is dead. In: Spiegel Online . November 19, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Walking on Water in the Internet Movie Database (English)