Christo to Design a Floating Sculpture Made of Oil Barrels in London’s Hyde Park
Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude made a name for themselves by creating works that reacted to both the natural and built worlds. In advance of his plans to construct the world’s largest permanent art structure in Abu Dhabi, the Bulgarian-born artist is warming up with a sizable structure set to debut in London’s Hyde Park this summer. Comprising 7,506 oil barrels, the massive trapezoidal structure takes its design cues from mastabas, tomblike structures whose origins supposedly can be traced all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia. Supported by anchoring, the 65-foot-tall, 500-ton temporary structure will float atop the Serpentine, a recreational lake that sits behind Kensington Palace. The barrels will be painted red, white, and blue to symbolize the Union Jack, as well as a mauve which Christo describes as “very royal,” according to The New York Times.
Water and the concept of floating seem to have recently become something of a motif for Christo, who's known for massive installations that transform landscapes and shroud existing works of architecture. In 2016, his Floating Piers project used three kilometers of artificial walkway to connect two islands in Italy’s Lake Iseo to the mainland. The use of oil barrels also harkens back to one of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s earliest major installations, which debuted in 1962 as a reaction to the Berlin Wall.
Christo will sell his art to cover the projected $4.2 million in expenses for the self-funded project, which is modeled on a successful one-tenth scale version he constructed near the Bulgarian coast last year. And while this temporary floating structure cuts an imposing figure, the more permanent Abu Dhabi mastaba will aim to use 50 times as many barrels.
Set to coincide with a career retrospective of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work at the nearby Serpentine Galleries, the structure will make its debut on June 20 and run through September 9.
