Catalogue Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Floating Piers

Following the announcement of a major exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery (London) and an open-sky project in Hyde Park next summer on the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sculpture Nature comes back to a catalogue published by Tashen in 2016 and dedicated to The Floating Piers (2014-2016), a monumental “floating” work of art installed on Lake Iseo (Italy) in 2016.

The artist couple had been playing with the idea of a floating project since the beginning of their career: in 1969, Christo and Jeanne-Claude had already suggested the construction of a floating pier on the delta of the Rio de la Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and in 1955 they envisioned another pier which would join two artificial islands in Tokyo Bay and stretch across Odaiba Park (Japan). But neither project came to completion. The Floating Piers therefore represents the realization of an abiding idea.

This chronological catalogue thoroughly illustrates the different stages of the project: sketches, meetings, drawings, maquettes, small-scale trials, trips, encounters… Each step is meticulously documented thanks to a very rich iconographic corpus and concise explanations. The publication helps understand not only the conception of the work but also its technical implementation, and the number of people and trades that were involved in its completion. During the sixteen days it was opened to the public, 55.000 visitors walked, often bare-footed, on The Floating Piers and experienced this amazing stroll.  This catalogue constitutes an essential reference in getting a sense of the challenges involved in the implementation of a monumental outdoor work of art.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Floating Piers, published by Taschen (Cologne), 23.5 x 29 cm, 128 pages, paperback, 2016. Bilingual publication: Italian and English.