Installation Art on 98th Street
The ninth grade boys were inspired by Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s project, L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, a temporary artwork for Paris. For a couple of weeks this fall, the Arc de Triomphe was wrapped in 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue, and with 3,000 meters of red rope. The St. B’s boys wanted to bring that concept to 98th Street and have ‘wrapped’ four iconic places in the school. Two more installations will be completed in December.
Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude conceived the project in the 1960s and before Christo’s death last year, he asked that the project be realized posthumously. The task took years to plan and 1,200 workers to install. The St. Bernard’s production process was a bit simpler. Students presented their ideas to Mr. Moraitis for approval and after the green light, the planning began. What type of material should be used? How will it be fastened? The execution presented new problems that the boys had to overcome.
One of the boys remarked that he wanted to bring some attention to the fixtures around our school that we walk past every day without giving much thought. Many thanks to the boys’ art teacher, Ms. Rogan, for facilitating this unique project.
