Christo
(Bulgaria, United States of America 13 Jun 1935– )
Jeanne-Claude
(France, United States of America 13 Jun 1935–18 Nov 2009)
- Title
- Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia
- Other titles:
- Wrapped Coast, Little Bay, Australia
- Year
- 1969
- Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- gelatin silver photograph
- Edition
- 2/10
- Dimensions
-
120.0 x 161.0cm sight; 125.4 x 166.2 x 4.7cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed l.l., black marker "Christo/...". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1971
- Accession number
- 152.1971
- Copyright
- © Christo 1969 Photo: Harry Shunk
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia 1968-69
Coordinator: John KaldorLittle Bay, property of Prince Henry Hospital, is located 14.5 kilometres, southeast of the centre of Sydney.
The South Pacific Ocean cliff-lined shore area that was wrapped is approximately 2.5 kilometres long, 46 to 244 metres wide, 26 metres high at the northern cliffs, and was at sea level at the southern sandy beach.
90,000 square metres (1 million square feet) of erosion-control fabric (synthetic woven fibre usually manufactured for agricultural purposes) were used for the wrapping. 56.3 kilometres of polypropylene rope, 1.5 centimetre diameter, tied the fabric to the rocks. Ramset guns fired 25,000 charges of fasteners, threaded studs and clips to secure the rope to the rocks.
Ninian Melville, a retired major in the Army Corps of Engineers, was in charge of the workers at the site.
17,000 manpower hours, over a period of four weeks, were expended by 15 professional mountain climbers, and over 100 workers: architecture and art students from the University of Sydney and East Sydney Technical College, as well as a number of Australian artists and teachers. All workers were paid, with the exception of 11 architecture students who refused.
The project was financed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude through the sale of Christo's original preparatory drawings, collages, scale models, early packages and wrapped objects of the 1950s and 1960s and lithographs.
The coast remained wrapped for a period of ten weeks from 28 October 1969. Then all materials were removed and recycled and the site was returned to its original condition.
- Bibliography (4)
-
Anthony Bond (England; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Wayne Tunnicliffe (New Zealand; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 2006, 62, 70, 71 (illus.).
Charles Green (Australia, b.1953) (Author), The third hand: collaboration in art from conceptualism to postmodernism, Minneapolis, 2001, 127, 128, 130, 131, 135, 142, 154, 182.
Ian North (New Zealand; Australia, b.1945) (Editor), Special exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia: Seventh Adelaide Festival of Arts 1972, Adelaide, 1972, (illus.). cat.no. 35
Art Gallery of South Australia (Australia, estab. 1881) (Author), The Australian landscape, Adelaide, 1972, (illus.). cat.no. 54
- Exhibition history (9)
-
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of South Australia, 03 Mar 1972–03 Apr 1972.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of Western Australia, 04 May 1972–04 Jun 1972.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 04 Jul 1972–04 Aug 1972.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 05 Sep 1972–01 Oct 1972.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 14 Nov 1972–17 Dec 1972.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 17 Jan 1973–11 Feb 1973.
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Queensland Art Gallery, 01 Mar 1973–01 Apr 1973.
Ideas and Actions: Performance, Process and Documentation, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 29 Oct 1999–23 Jan 2000.
John Kaldor Family Collection Artist Rooms #1 - Christo, Gosford Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, 01 Feb 2013–01 Apr 2013.
