Why? The first question everyone I tell about the wrapped Arc de Triomphe in Paris asks. Why would anyone do it. I confess I asked myself the same question when I heard the ‘unveiling’ or perhaps the veiling of the Parisian landmark will take place 2 days before we return from out trip to Paris.
“Bring joy and beauty to the people” is all Cristo would agree to say in all interviews I could watch on YouTube. “All other meanings are propaganda”. Joy and beauty to the people. OK. I am one of the people, aren’t I? On September 19th, the day no cars allowed in center Paris, I decided to experience the joy and beauty. And?
It was certainly enlightening, surreal and ….funny. The silvery cloth shimmering in the light emphasized the size of the monument, like a huge elephant in the midst of a constant river of people. Beautiful? Not sure about that but definitely impressive. And the people, their reaction to the wrapped monument were between hilarious ( adults looking behind the cloth to see what’s there ?? ) and bizarre ( climbing on the monument, an elderly woman??). More than one person covering itself in cloth, standing there to be photographed. By strangers in the crowd, by people with professional looking cameras.
What do you think of when looking at the photo of the covered person. once we can not see whether it is a man or a woman. Black or white. Once it is just a human shape. What differs looking at this person covered compared to looking at the same person without the cover? Is it the same for the monument? And if it is, and the act of wrapping it makes us stop and look at it with different eyes, make us ask different questions, is this art? Art worth 14M Euro?
Wrapped
