The biggest sculpture in history

[Serpo]

The biggest sculpture in history: Artist who wrapped up the Reichstag plans spectacular £212million creation in the middle of the desert to rival the Pyramids



£212m Christo creation will be built in the desert 100 miles south of Abu Dhabi
It will consist of 400,000 multi-coloured oil barrels
'Mastaba' will be just taller than the Great Pyramid and three times taller than Nelson's Column
Christo most famous for wrapping the Reichstag in fabric in 1995

By Adam Shergold (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Adam+Shergold+)
PUBLISHED: 16:00 GMT, 25 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:34 GMT, 25 November 2012










He is best known for wrapping the Reichstag in fabric and lining California highways with yellow umbrellas - but Christo's latest, almost inconceivable project will dwarf them both.
The artist will spend £212m building the 'Mastaba', the world's largest permanent sculpture, from over 400,000 multi-coloured oil barrels in the middle of the desert near Abu Dhabi.
The flat-topped pyramid will be 492ft high, just taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza and three times the height of Nelson's Column.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-2238205-16349515000005DC-430_634x378.jpg Artwork: The proposed 'Mastaba', a 490ft tall sculpture constructed from oil barrels and conceived by Christo to be built in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-163494F1000005DC-832_634x424.jpg Grand designs: Christo, who is best known for wrapping buildings and bridges in fabric, with a sketch of his latest creation

It is intended to be a landmark for Abu Dhabi - despite being 100 miles from the city itself - in the same way the pyramids are for Egypt and the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, with two million visitors expected annually.
Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude first envisaged the project 30 years ago, after being inspired by the colourful sands of the desert but its completion has been delayed by various conflicts in the region.

The Mastaba chimes with Abu Dhabi's latest ambition to turn itself into a centre of art and culture.
The emirate's rulers have approved a site near Liwa oasis, in the south-east of the United Arab Emirates close to the border with Oman.
The region is home to some of the highest sand dunes in the middle-east and the yellow and red colours in the sand have inspired the design.
Christo said: 'When the sun rises, the vertical wall will become almost full of gold.'

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-16349522000005DC-428_634x769.jpg Stack: The Mastaba will be made of 410,000 multi-coloured oil barrels, though Christo insists it is not a commentary on the region's oil wealth



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-2238205-1634950D000005DC-600_634x492.jpg Long-held dream: The first sketches of the 490ft flat-topped pyramid structure were drawn up 30 years ago, but conflicts in the region have stalled its construction



Design on the dunes: Christo during a scale model test at the proposed sight neat the Liwa Oasis, 100 miles from Abu Dhabi city in the south-east of the United Arab Emirates

The Bulgarian-born artist, 74, is collaborating with Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nayhan, the crown prince’s elder brother, with the royal family ‘very excited to realise the project.’
Although Christo hasn’t said whether the ruling family have contributed financially towards it, he said it had mainly been financed ‘independently’ and through sales of his work.
He denied that choosing oil barrels to build the structure was a comment on the region’s chief source of wealth and stressed that his idea was not born out of economic or political events, just ‘joy and beauty.’

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-1634951D000005DC-334_634x422.jpg Location: The Mastaba will be situated here, with the yellow and red colours of the sands said to have inspired Christo in his design



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-163494DF000005DC-243_634x375.jpg Plans: The Mastaba is slightly taller than the Great Pyramid of Gaza in Egypt. Christo and the project's backers hope it will attract two million visitors a year

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-163494CB000005DC-261_634x478.jpg Flat-topped pyramid: Another design sketch as the Mastaba takes shape




http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-163494F7000005DC-229_634x577.jpg Site: The Mastaba will be constructed in the south-east of the country, 100 miles from Abu Dhabi and close to the border with Oman

It has been inspired by Islamic architecture, with Christo saying: ‘When Louis XIV was building that kitschy castle Versailles, the greatest architecture in the Middle East had incredible simplicity… and play with colours.’
Construction of the Mastaba will take 30 months, with hundreds of people involved. A German company has been commissioned to supply the coloured barrels.
A nearby ‘art campus’ will include an exhibition on the project, as well as housing a luxury hotel and restaurant.
Christo, born Christo Javacheff, is best known for wrapping everyday items including bottles and chairs in sheets or tarpaulin.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-16349519000005DC-889_634x411.jpg Scouting locations: Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, look at possible locations for the sculpture on a visit to the UAE in 2007



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/25/article-0-16349503000005DC-452_634x433.jpg Long time coming: Christo and Jeanne-Claude scouting for possible sites in February 1982

He famously wrapped the Reichstag, the German government building in Berlin, and the Pont-Neuf Bridge in Paris in fabric.
His ‘Umbrellas’ project, between 1984 and 1991, involved setting up 3,000 umbrellas along highways in Japan and the United States.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238205/High-art-New-desert-wonder-artist-Christo-plans-490-ft-tall-Mastaba-rival-Pyramids-worlds-biggest-expensive-sculpture.html

[mamboni]

Why?

[osoab]

I am thinking they will store toxic waste in the drums.

Either way, in forty years the thing will be a pile of rust.

[Dogman]

Why? Ego, wrapped up in the name of "art"!

[Horn]

Why?

Because he has the kneepads, and you do not. :)

[mamboni]

In an increasingly Malthusian world where conservation and recycling are paramount, this is an obscene waste of energy, manpower and material on the altar of ego. And there is no art in this, but pure engineering. The artist draws a 3D trapazoid and I'm supposed to be impressed? In a thousand years, I'd want to meet the architect and builders who erected it, not the dimwitted designer who put zero effort into the conception.

[Twisted Titan]

Why?

When money can be printed out of thin air. .......silly shit like this abounds

[Libertytree]

I am thinking they will store toxic waste in the drums.

Either way, in forty years the thing will be a pile of rust.

A future pile of rust sums it up perfectly.

On another note... it seems to be a somewhat inverted image of the shape of the UAE.

I reckon it goes to show ya just how worthless dollars/fiat are, sink nothing into nothing to get a grand nothing. Sure would buy a whole lot of real gold though and be a little more time perseverent.

Now if that sculptor had any imagination at all he would sculpt a larger version of the Grand Canyon and call it the Grand Mecca...imagine the marketing possibilities! :) A rafting jihad paintball excursion, 17 virgins, endless grape and fig bar...you name it for the low, low price of $20M per head. (pardon pun)

[mamboni]

A future pile of rust sums it up perfectly.

On another note... it seems to be a somewhat inverted image of the shape of the UAE.

I reckon it goes to show ya just how worthless dollars/fiat are, sink nothing into nothing to get a grand nothing. Sure would buy a whole lot of real gold though and be a little more time perseverent.

Now if that sculptor had any imagination at all he would sculpt a larger version of the Grand Canyon and call it the Grand Mecca...imagine the marketing possibilities! :) A rafting jihad paintball excursion, 17 virgins, endless grape and fig bar...you name it for the low, low price of $20M per head. (pardon pun)

That's a damn good idea. And those multimillionaire camel jockeys who don't know what to do with all their oil money would eat it up. You can spend only so much on randomly placed hair plugs.

[Ponce]

What you say abour cristo is the same thing that those africans who lives on .50 cents a day are saying about your $5.00 cup of coffee.....no matter how bad off you think that you are there is always someone else who is worse off.

[joboo]

He's building his wife's grave shrine out of industrial grade plastic barrels made from steel that are going to rust because it doesn't rain, and is dry as a bone in the desert. This is what happens when you wear knee pads as a fashion statement.