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Rainey Knudson

40. Wolfgang Volz photograph of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Running Fence

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Running Fence, 1972–1976. Photograph by Wolfgang Volz. Dye imbibition print, approx. 13 × 20 inches.

Four years of heartbreaking struggle. Then finally, incredibly, Christo and Jean-Claude pulled it off: an 18-foot tall, 24.5-mile fence of heavy nylon fabric in northern California. It crossed 14 roads and 59 private ranches before descending gracefully into the Pacific Ocean. There was enormous resistance to such a folly; a film documents the frustrating process, and how the stunningly beautiful sculpture that “described the wind” ultimately united the community. It is so hard, and so miraculous, to do anything truly worth doing—something that sounds crazy but actually isn’t. To believe that the impossible is possible. To never give up.


 

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