Javacheff christo

441 barrels structure "The wall" (Project for the June 9th, 1968 - Museum of Modern Art N.Y)

Short Review

This of the drums to hold the oil, barrels of oil, is a fixed idea of Christo and Jeanne-Claude dating back to 1958. Essentially the projects are of two types "Wall" and "Mastaba". The walls are walls made up of drums stacked on each other, while the mastabas are like truncated pyramids made with thousands of bins.  In both cases the lids of the outer bins are painted in various colors. The first wall of bins was executed in Paris on rue Visconti in 1962, a year after the construction of the Berlin Wall. So this work was also a protest for this construction. The installation was clandestine and lasted one night to avoid problems of public order. Of these installations, few were performed, all in museums. In particular, this installation never had permission for its performed. It was about closing the street in front of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the work are reproduced the photo of this street with the drawing of the bins stacked on each other to close the passage and with the lid painted in enamel, the map of the city of the area concerned and the photo of the front of the museum. So a complete work in all its parts.

Tags: Christo and Jeanne-Claude - Wall - Mastaba