Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Mastaba at the Serpentine Gallery & Hyde Park. Recommended

The London Mastaba By Christo - Photo by Mirta Imperatori

I am very happy that I managed to see the Mastaba floating in the waters of Hyde Park; I see it as an inspirational work, showing what can be achieved when one puts ones mind to it. I didn't think I would have such a happy reaction  when first seeing the Mastaba from high up on the Serpentine bridge. The floating, colourful sculpture which was funded completely by Christo and is composed of 7.506 barrels, is one of his largest barrel works. I was surrounded by tourists from all over the world, who were pointing at the colourful Mastaba in amazement saying things like: what is that? I have never seen anything like it see pic above. But first of all let's start with the exhibition at The Serpentine Gallery, which shows all the work put into the Mastaba through large sketches and 3D models, and how they transform the surrounding landscapes, all over the world, including in this project in Hyde Park. The Mastaba, the meaning of the word from Arabic is 'bench', is of trapezoidal form with inward sloping sides, it naturally forms when cylinders get stacked together. The exhibition shows the different Mastaba proposals for different sites around the world, not all of which have come to fruition.

The Mastaba sketch by Christo & Jeanne-Claude courtesy of Pinterest

The exhibition focuses also on Christo and Jeanne Claude's history of working with barrels, which are affordable materials that also have a commercial use.  The exhibition spans 60 years, starting from Christo's studio in Paris, and includes work I have seen only for the first time. I have seen their larger project in Italy which again was fantastic. The barrels in the exhibition resemble totems of rust as they are put one on top of each other and they are rusty, some large, some smaller, see pics below.

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo by Mirta Imperatori

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of  Pinterest

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of christojeanneclaude.net

In 1961 they exhibited at Galerie Haro Lauhus in Cologne, the work was titled Dockside Package and includes rolls of industrial paper held with ropes and covered in tarpaulins. Also in 1961 they showed Stacked Oil Barrels, oil drums assembled together into a large structure see pic below; all of this is documented in the exhibition.  I was particularly drawn to his smaller works: the empty wrapped cans, covered as though they were a package, or a ghost of the original package; this specific project is shown indoors but a lot of their other projects with barrels are outdoors. They temporarily disrupted Paris infrastructure on 27th June 1962 when they created a wall of barrels which blocked people and cars. 

Stacked Oil Barrels Cologne Harbour 1961 by Christo & Jeanne Claude

The Iron Curtain by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of Pinterest

This was in protest at the Berlin Wall, which had been constructed in 1961 and spoke of Christo's personal life as a refugee see pic above; he escaped the Soviet Bloc to the West in 1956 via Vienna and Geneva and then moved to Paris two years later. I find this guerrilla side of their work of particular interest as it relates to mine. He stopped wrapping barrels in 1962. In 1964 he and Jeanne-Claude (who passed away in 2009) moved from Paris to New York where Christo still lives today. They successfully completed the Mastaba at the ICA Philadelphia, which was made of 1,240 oil barrels and titled Oil Barrels Mastaba see pic below, and from this they worked to realise a bigger one. So they were focused on increasing the scale of their original project. Barrels were positioned on top of each other in different shapes, sometimes forming fragile, precarious structures, culminating in Barrels Structure (1968) which was build in the shape of a triangle. In the exhibition there are also sketches of The Mastaba, the project for Abu Dhabi see pic below, created in 1977 to be  experienced in the desert dunes. This is still an ongoing project which, if realised, would be the largest sculpture in the world. 

By Christo & Jeanne-Claude 1,240 barrels - courtesy of Pinterest

The Mastaba by Christo & Jeanne Claude  courtesy of Pinterest

The Mastaba in Hyde Park is not static as are some of their other works; it interacts and changes with the surrounding landscape. For example the colourful barrels reflect colour into the water, and the floating Mastaba itself changes in colour depending on where the sun is. It's an artwork for the people as it is not part of the surrounding architecture and it is self funded, it is 20 metres in height, 30 metres in depth and 40 metres in length. The sides of the barrels are red and white and the ends of the barrels are different shades of red, blue and mauve; the whole structure is supported by a steel frame, and was put together by a specialist team. I have to say that from the bridge I could only see the blue and mauve of the Mastaba sometimes just blue or mauve depending where I was standing and depending on the sunlight. It's fun due to the the colours and it contrasts with the grey traditional buildings of London; it's geometric, abstract, and makes you think of op art;  it can be appreciated by anybody.

The London Mastaba by Christo photo by Mirta Imperatori

It is an environmental piece as well, as the colours change with the weather. The barrels made me think also of the politics of oil,  a very current topic at the moment. One can get a closer view of the floating sculpture by renting a boat, I saw plenty of boats around it. Christo and Jeanne-Claude made the impossible into a reality and this requires patience and vision; it took two years to be produced, the barrels are custom made and recyclable. Christo says that after the Mastaba is dismantled there will be funds made available to improve the biodiversity of the Lake's ecosystem. On the Serpentine bridge there were security staff, checking that people didn't do anything silly while on the bridge; they were giving information about The Mastaba in an entertaining way. It was a fun day out in the heat, the display lightens up the city. 

The London Mastaba by Christo photo by Mirta Imperatori

The exhibition is well presented, combining initial sketches with the finished works, and gives a good insight, through the various items on display, into the artists' working procedures.