An installation on Lake Iseo in Italy called The Floating Piers (or The Floating Piers) by the Bulgarian-born American artist Hristo Vladimirov Yavashev and his wife, Frenchwoman Jeanne-Claude de Guillebon, has now closed: it lasted only from 18 June to July 4. But its chronological boundaries do not coincide with the official framework of functioning, because even before the opening, the juicy golden stripes connecting the islands of Monte Isola, San Polo and the coastal town of Sulzano attracted the attention of the whole world, and the number of visitors to this work exceeded all the most optimistic forecasts.
The idea of creating such an installation came from the spouses-artists back in 1970: they tried to realize their "Floating Pier" in Argentina and Japan, but did not receive permission to do so. Their bold land-art work has always won the approval of local authorities for a long time, but when it does happen, they invariably evoke genuine admiration. Unfortunately, Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, did not see how her husband, having realized their plan, gave the opportunity to walk on the water to a huge number of people. By the way, Hristo realized the installation worth about 15 million euros entirely with his own funds, received from the sale of his other works.
Lake Iseo is very beautiful, but not as popular as Garda, Maggiore or Como. The trains that follow there are often almost empty, with locals predominating among the passengers. It is surprising that in order to attract foreign and Italian tourists to this place surrounded by picturesque hills, a person from afar was needed. Despite the worldwide fame of Christo, the commune did not fully believe in the success of the enterprise and, when the installation was opened, was frankly surprised by the influx of people wishing to see it. Needless to say, due to this fact, the organization of transport, parking spaces, queues, the provision of signs and even bathrooms turned out to be extremely bad.
To enjoy the magic of walking on water and, as the artist himself suggested, take off your shoes and feel the surroundings, you had to figure out how and what to get to Sulzano and then stand in line for many hours under the scorching sun. We must pay tribute to the Italians: unlike many other European countries, they turned out to be philanthropic, and people with disabilities, as well as families with children, could skip the line.
When you did get to the "Floating Pier", becoming a direct participant in the installation, the promised and expected magic, already pretty undermined by the tedious road and standing in line, continued to dissipate. A huge stream of people, screaming and moving at a brisk pace, left almost no opportunity to stop and enjoy the beauty of the landscape. If someone tried to come closer to the edge of the pier or to lower their feet into the water, employees would immediately fly up to him, placed like a convoy around the entire perimeter of the installation, and whistled menacingly. Due to the heat, some of the visitors were carried away by doctors constantly on duty nearby. And those who, following the artist's advice, tried to walk barefoot on the fabric in shades of saffron, were faced with the fact that it turned out to be red-hot.
But it was still possible to enjoy the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: for this it was necessary to climb a steep stone staircase to one of the hills and from there, in silence, calmness and coolness, watch hundreds of visitors that turned into dark dots on bright stripes cutting through the blue surface. However, few could do this because of the same incredible heat.
It is worth noting that, according to the authors' idea, the installation should have been available for visiting around the clock, but since the fabric began to wear out much faster than expected, the "Floating Pier" was closed from midnight to 6 am. The only thing that remained unchanged was that his visit was absolutely free. Although this statement, as a result, turned out to be more than controversial: after all, it was necessary to pay for the road, and even overpay for any drinks or food, since enterprising merchants raised prices for the most basic things like water several times.
But how did it happen that Floating Pier instantly became one of the most popular destinations in Italy? How 220 thousand dense polyethylene cubes, covered with a golden fabric and rising 50 cm above the water surface, attracted the attention of people from different countries? It's simple: after all, this installation has become a successful object for today's world of hashtags and selfies for Facebook - it did not require outstanding intellectual effort to understand, at the same time it was picturesque and accessible, and therefore from the very first seconds it became popular, “must-see”. And, of course, she promised a fairy tale, real magic - even if only for 16 days.
In an ideal world, where there is no heat, other visitors, shouts of sellers, buses without air conditioning, stains from shoes on saffron fabric, and where you can safely lower your tired feet into the cold water of the lake or even, pushing off from the pier, float away into the fog, installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, surrounded by majestic colorful hills, would be absolutely beautiful.
But if - or even especially if - you didn’t manage to see the Floating Pier, do not drive past Lake Iseo and its surrounding towns, buy a ticket for a water tram or rent a bike there, and you will surely feel the magic of this undeservedly deprived of tourist attention., which has always been here, but perhaps someone should have opened it to the whole world.
