#running fence

[golden-west]

[noconcessions]

[equatorjournal]

the art fabric mainstream, 1981

[rwpohl]

[aholdingspace]

Running Fence

Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, USA

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

5.5 meters (18 feet) high, 39.4 kilometers (24.5 miles) long

1972-1976

“All parts of Running Fence's structure were designed for complete removal and no visible evidence of Running Fence remains on the hills of Sonoma and Marin Counties.“

[vieformidable]

Saddened to hear of the passing of Christo - an inspirational Bulgarian-born naturalized American immigrant, innovative artist engineer, who despite intense bureaucratic opposition, was able to construct monumental and iconic projects that transformed a wide variety of landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude (who he met in Paris in 1958) collaborated closely, were inseparable. Christo spent most of his time and lived in Manhattan. RIP.

[lavannnnda]

Running Fence (1977) documentary of Christo's Running Fence project through Marin county, CA.

While they were discussing the approval of the project in Marin, with several counterpoints doubting it's artistic integrity, some local people, including this woman, stood to speak their mind.

[t-l-allen]

Running Fence Response Paper

Running Fence was a temporary installation piece by Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed in 1976. The fence was 18 feet high and 24.5 miles long spanning from Freeway 101 to the Pacific Ocean in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born on the same day in 1935; Christo in Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude in Morocco. Christo then went on to study at the National Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria from 1953-56. After a brief time in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he fled to Vienna, Austria where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts for a semester. Later in 1958, Christo arrives in Paris and meets Jean-Claude. Jeanne-Claude received a Baccalaureate in Latin and Philosophy at the University of Tunis, Tunisia in 1952. Their son, Cyril was born on May 11, 1960. The pair eventually settled in New York. Jeanne-Claude passed away on November 18, 2009. The pair is known for being apart of the Environmental Art art movement and planned and oversaw 21 realized projects (Christo… “Life…).

Running Fence, as previously stated, was a temporary installation piece by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Like their other projects, Running Fence was more than just a fence made of “heavy woven nylon fabric, hung from a steel cable” it was a process and the process is what makes it art (Christo… “Running…). The fence itself included 24.5 miles of white nylon fabric. The fence consisted of the unity of 2,152,780 square feet of fabric, hung from a steel cable which stretched between 2,050 steel poles including no anchoring other than the poles themselves being in the ground and guy wires anchored diagonally off to 14,000 anchors in the ground. The installation stood for 14 days and then was removed. The project was designed to leave no trace after its removal. The project crossed the lands of 59 ranchers who were given what was on their land after it was taken down. The process consisted of 42 months of 18 public hearings, three sessions at the Superior Courts of California,and  a 450-page Environmental Impact Report.

The public hearings began extremely rough and Christo and Jeanne-Claude were greatly opposed and the fence was questioned as to if it was art at all. They continuously expressed how the fence would cause no damage to the land and would stand for 14 days exactly. Despite their explaining opposition continued. The ranchers did not want outsiders to wander into town and have access to the ranchers’ land. In addition, many did not think it was art to which Jeanne-Claude explained that it was the process and the people that make it art. Eventually the rancers got to know them and slowly let them in and once a few did, then many did.

The pair had to fight hard, and even break some laws, to achieve their, and eventually the ranchers and their goals to erecting a fence made of nylon and cables. Their battle included a 450-page Environmental Impact Report which would, and did, prove that Running Fence would not harm the land, sky, and ocean. Once the ranchers were on board, then the state fell through and denied Christo and Jeanne-Claude access to the Pacific Ocean due to fear, despite the report proving otherwise. As shown in the film, the pair did not listen and rushed to complete the fence before being arrested. On September 10, 1976, and until September 24, 1976, there stood an awe invoking fence whose white nylon sheets bustled in the Californian wind. 350,000 hooks held the fate of the fence in their finely made hands. Once completed it was clear how beautiful the fence looked with the California hills and ocean reflecting and playing with it.

Running Fence physically is an elegant reflection of the section of California that it crossed. It complemented the landscape by wandering through rolling hills and eventually melted into the sea and flowed with the waves. It highlighted California’s beauty and the ranchers and Christo and Jeanne-Claude understood that and each other through said beauty. Despite breaking a few laws, the fence was beautiful and it was aesthetically pleasing and that may be all that it was; just something beautiful that existed just for a moment. However, the process of the fence being erected also is apart of the art piece. Process pieces, art pieces that focuses on making and less on final product, can play a role in what Running Fence is. It was the collaboration between foreign artists and ranchers, it was standing in public hearings getting yelled at by people who just didn’t understand, and its hundreds of people coming together as a team to erect something that will be gone in a matter of days. The process of making art can be, and in this case, is essential to what the piece is “about.” While it may no necessarily have a deep meaning as to why it was created, making it alone counts. Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin’s film Running Fence embodies this purpose and definition of what art can be. Aesthetics and process art go hand-in-hand when looking at a piece like Running Fence.

The fence may be more relevant today in 2018 than when it was erected. With the current administration in place, there are many divides within the United States. Much of today is spent arguing over which was policies should go because of the people who request them and not for the common good of the people, unlike this project. Collaborating despite being from completely different worlds is exactly what we, in 2018, are not doing. Focusing on the bonds and the relationships that grew between people from very different backgrounds, calls for a relief from separation. Despite the fence having been down for many years now, there is still much to learn from the history of the fence and the process in which it was made. Understanding one another and through disagreements and commonalities we create common ground and tear down our own fences. 

Bibliography

Christo, and Jeanne-Claude. “Life and Work.” Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Christo, 2018, christojeanneclaude.net/life-and-work.

Christo, and Jeanne-Claude. “Running Fence.” Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Christo, 2018, christojeanneclaude.net/projects/running-fence.

Maysles, Albert, and David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin. Running Fence. Maysles Films, 1977.