CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE

SURROUNDED ISLAND

Above is an example of a work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude 'Surrounded Islands' situated in Biscayne Bay, between the city of Miami, North Miami, the Village of Miami Shores and Miami Beach. Eleven of the islands situated in the area were surrounded with 6.5 million square feet (603,870 square meters) of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric covering the surface of the water and extending out 200 feet (61 meters) from each island into the bay.

The idea's for the works come from their own brains, they refuse to take any influence - including sponsership from others on the basis that they wish to work in complete freedom. They believe that accepting these offers would compromise their art and so make zero profit from their work.

The main factor in the works is fabric, it gives the work a fragility and tempory characetr which could not be obtained if using other materials. The work is about altering the enviroment itself and in doing so, we see and perceive the whole environment with new eyes and a new consciousness.