Floating Piers: Homage to
The Spectacle of Worthless Grandiose

H. A. Anil Kumar

‘Floating Piers’ (2016) by Jean Claude and Christo was a work that was seemingly functional for sixteen days, as long as it existed. This bridge also served as a semi-obituary, a story of individual loss, several coincidences and a clear separation. Jean had passed away a decade ago, Jean (Morocco) and Christo (Bulgaria) were born on the same day (1935), this was his first work alone and Jean had famously said, “If he had been a dentist I would have become the same”. Spectacle was the initial key sketch from which they evolved all their works since they met half a decade ago. Loss, coincidences and separation were the three tentative possibilities for anyone while being on the floating bridge, when it was on for those sixteen days 18th June to 3rd July 2016).