Engagement

Good day, sir. I am Christo. I am Bulgarian. Excuse my French. I am a sculptor. I make large-scale projects in the landscape. Temporary projects. And I would like to cover the Pont Neuf with a silky cloth for 14 days.

— Christo, from the documentary Christo in Paris, 1990

[Later in the film, an argument breaking out on the wrapped Pont Neuf.]

“It’s pure art.”

“This is free art.”

“It’s pure art, there to express what you feel.”

“And this is art?”

“It’s not art?”

“If you tell me this is art, then we’re not speaking the same language.”

…

“Explain to me what art is then! Explain to us what art is. Tell me what it is.”

“It’s very complicated. I can’t tell you in two words. But it is a creation of the mind, a creation that transposes reality." 

"It’s an idea!”

“No, a creation which transposes reality in such a way that will express something in a sensitive way to others.”

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. If the bridge weren’t wrapped, we would have never spoken to each other. Ever." 

A tour guide observes, "Nothing will stay, it’s ephemeral. But people will look at the Pont Neuf in a different way.”

This is what engagement looks like.