Who says walking on water is impossible? A new floating art installation created by Bulgarian-born artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff gives people the opportunity to make walking on water a reality.
The project, coined “The Floating Piers," consists of some 100,000 square meters, or 1,076,391 feet, of glistening yellow fabric attached to more than 220,000 polyethylene floating cubes on Italy’s Lake Iseo.
“Those who experience "The Floating Piers" will feel like they are walking on water – or perhaps the back of a whale,” Christo said in a statement. “The light and water will transform the bright yellow fabric to shades of red and gold throughout the sixteen days.”
The floating walkway connects two small islands to the mainland town of Sulzano, and will be open to the public from June 18 through July 3, according to a statement on Christo’s website.
Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, came up with the idea for the floating walkways in 1970, though Christo did not scout locations for the installment until 2014, according to the statement.
This is the first large-scale art installation that Christo has created since he and Jean-Claude took over New York's Central Park with their installation, "The Gates," according to Christo's website.
"The Gates" were created with 7,500 orange PVC gates, draped with orange fabric, marching down 23 miles of park pathways from the Plaza Hotel up to Harlem.
"The Floating Piers" project was funded through the sale of Christo’s artwork, and after the exhibition is complete all materials used will be recycled.
Staff will be on hand at the installation to ensure that no one falls into the water, Reuters reported.
Looks magical!
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