Dead in May 2020, Christo had accustomed us to his mind-blowing works, packaging and visual art. He has been one of the greatest artists of the century. He also made Lake Iseo in Italy, famous all over the world, with the famous floating walkway.
Christo’s last temptation
If someone thought that the packaged Parisian Arc de Triomphe was his last work, already posthumous, it probably won’t be. Yes, because Christo had a project in the drawer for years and it seems that it is about to be realized. It will be the largest work of art in the world.
# The “Mastaba”: a work of art of 410 thousand steel drums
It will be called the “Mastaba” and is just waiting for the approval of the EAU government. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, an artistic and private couple, had this project in mind since 1977, but it was never realized. The idea was to build the work in the Liwa desert, south of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The work would be the artist’s first to be a permanent large-scale installation. It will consist of 410 thousand 55-gallon multicolored steel drums, thus echoing Islamic architecture. The two artists had already thought and decided on the colors and position of each stem.
# The largest work of art in the world
The real peculiarity? If it is built, the “Mastaba” will be the largest work of art in the world. Unfortunately nothing has yet been decided, as the UAE Government is taking time. With its 150 meters high, 300 meters long on the vertical walls and 225 meters wide on the 60-degree inclined walls, it will be unbeatable. Christo was talking about a kind of new Eiffel Tower, the new landmark for the 21st century. While waiting for the approval of the project, it has already been chosen who will do it. The artist’s grandson, Vladimir Yavachev, will chair the work, which will take about 3 years to see it complete. The luck is that the “Mastaba”, like all of Christo’s projects, will be self-financed, so there will be no problems in seeking any governments funding.
LORENZO ZUCCHI
