Plastique fantastique

o Parisians emerging from the dark cloud of a global pandemic, the astonishing transformation of an adored landmark feels like a gift – and an exquisitely wrapped one at that.

The wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe, the national monument that crowns the Champs-E´ lyse´ es and forms the heart of Europe’s most hectic roundabout, is also a fitting tribute to the artists who first dreamt of the project in 1961 but concluded the idea was probably too bold ever to be approved.

Six decades later, the vision of husband and wife team Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon is reality: the 50-metre high and 45m wide edifice has been wrapped in 25,000 square metres of recyclable silvery blue polypropylene fabric and 3000m of recyclable red rope, producing an awe-inspiring, shimmering beacon in the French capital.

Sadly, neither creator is here to see it; Jeanne-Claude died in 2009 and Christo last May. A team led by the couple’s nephew, Vladimir Yavachev, set about completing the work, which will be in place for 16 days.

‘‘As Christo liked to say, ‘Our projects are alive,’ and today L’Arc de Triomphe has come to life,’’ Yavachev says.

‘‘Christo approved every visual aspect of this project, and in a way it is a memorial to the life and work Christo and Jeanne-Claude created together in Paris and across the world, which always exceeded what we believe to be possible.’’

Having fled from communist Bulgaria in 1957, Christo moved to a small room overlooking the Arc de Triomphe and was immediately fascinated by its form and potential.

He compiled a photomontage of it wrapped in 1962, and a collage in 1988, but didn’t seek permission until 2017.

In the meantime Christo and JeanneClaude wrapped dozens of public spaces around the world, including the Reichstag building in Berlin in 1995, Pont Neuf in Paris in 1985, and a 2.5-kilometre stretch of Sydney coastline in 1969.

‘‘They had the Arc de Triomphe in their heads and hearts for 60 years,’’ says Matthias Koddenberg, a long-time friend of the pair and a member of the project team.

‘‘He still couldn’t believe that he got the approval to work on such a national symbol – it was like a miracle for him.’’

The €14 million (NZ$23m) project is funded entirely by Christo through the sale of his studies, drawings, collages and scale models. More than 1000 people worked on the scheme, including a team of 100 orange overall-clad technicians who abseiled down the monument on September 12 to unfurl the huge rolls of fabric.

Behind the silver and electric-blue material – which visitors are encouraged to touch, and are even given small samples to take home – sits a steel framework protecting the 185-year-old monument’s priceless statues and cornices. Even the rooftop has been delicately wrapped.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors have already flocked to see the work, comparing it to a frozen elephant or suspended waterfall. There are critics, too: philosopher Benjamin Olivennes likened the wrapping to an unmade bed. Journalist Andre´ Bercoff decided it looked like a giant bin bag.

‘‘One of the critiques is that this is too much of an event, and people say that means it is not really art but something more like megalomania,’’ Koddenberg says. ‘‘I think what you see here is beautiful, but I always try to point out that what you see now is only a tiny part

Philosopher Benjamin Olivennes likened the wrapping to an unmade bed. Journalist Andr´e Bercoff decided it looked like a giant bin bag.

of the art. Because for Christo and Jeanne-Claude, their definition of the art is everything from the first idea all the way to the completed product, including all the discussions, all the meetings, all the dealings with lawyers, city officials, engineers and construction workers.

‘‘They really changed the definition of art when they started in the 1960s. Going out of the museum or the gallery and into the streets and confronting people with art is really the key. And I think this has had a huge influence on other artists.’’

The team’s next goal is to realise Christo’s vision of a mastaba, or tomb structure, in the Abu Dhabi desert, using 410,000 oil barrels to stretch higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza. After that, Christo and Jeanne-Claude projects will be only the stuff of history and legend. –