Running Fence is a piece of Land Art made by two New York artists, Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The temporary Earthwork was installed along the coastlines of California in September of 1976, where is stayed up for fourteen days, as documented by Albert and David Maysles in 1978 the film, Running Fence. This film took viewers through the process of installing and fighting for the legal permits needed to install the piece, which was very controversial. Many locals in the town did not believe that Jeanne-Claude and Christo’s 2.5+ million dollar project should be considered artwork, and many residents even mocked the piece at public hearings regarding approval for the piece.
The two artists created a very specific route for the fence. The guidelines created …show more content…
The film records the initial public hearing for Running Fence, where locals mocked the piece by saying things like, “I know art… and this is not art!” Or by holding up a hanky and mockingly alluding to the fact that their hanky was a piece of art because they said so. This came to seem like a personal attack on Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as alluded to by a moment shared between the two artists and one of the local ranchers. In a scene after one of the hearings, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were speaking to this local man who was a friendly rancher who was not opposed to the installation of Running Fence. When speaking to the artists, he stated something along the lines of this: “the reason your piece is not being approved is not because of the piece.” He went on to say that “I could say that I’m going to set up an eighteen foot tall, twenty-four mile long fence along this land and the people would accept it,” without any controversy. Then he asks, “you know why?” Because everybody (here) knows me, but you guys are strangers.” This statement seemed vital to what the piece came signify in its success. All of the obstacles that came to stand in the way
The two artists created a very specific route for the fence. The guidelines created …show more content…
The film records the initial public hearing for Running Fence, where locals mocked the piece by saying things like, “I know art… and this is not art!” Or by holding up a hanky and mockingly alluding to the fact that their hanky was a piece of art because they said so. This came to seem like a personal attack on Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as alluded to by a moment shared between the two artists and one of the local ranchers. In a scene after one of the hearings, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were speaking to this local man who was a friendly rancher who was not opposed to the installation of Running Fence. When speaking to the artists, he stated something along the lines of this: “the reason your piece is not being approved is not because of the piece.” He went on to say that “I could say that I’m going to set up an eighteen foot tall, twenty-four mile long fence along this land and the people would accept it,” without any controversy. Then he asks, “you know why?” Because everybody (here) knows me, but you guys are strangers.” This statement seemed vital to what the piece came signify in its success. All of the obstacles that came to stand in the way