box wrapped in brown wrapping paper, tied with brown twine; two labels on front side: UR, white with scalloped edges, red Minneapolis postmark and project identification; BC, white with the Walker Art return address in blue, a New York City address and the address of the recipient in black received with postcard: front, black and white image of tied and wrapped object with person in LRC; back, address label to recipient on right, object information on left, blue Minneapolis, Minn. postmark (Oct. 19, '66). Not signed

Copyright %C2%A9 Christo. All rights reserved.

Untitled (Commemoration of “14,130 Cubic Feet Empaquetage”), 1966

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Christo is best known for wrapping objects large and small, simultaneously obscuring them and focusing attention on them. In 1966, while he was a visiting artist at the Minneapolis School of Art (now Minneapolis College of Art and Design), he, his wife Jeanne-Claude, and student assistants created "14,130 Cubic Feet Empaquetage" (also known as "Balloon Ascension") on the school's lawn. It was a large inflated parcel, 32 by 64 feet, made from giant research balloons filled with 2,804 colored balloons, all wrapped in plastic and bound with 3,200 feet of manila rope. A helicopter raised it 20 feet above the ground and hovered for half an hour.

To finance this 1960s performance piece, Christo and the students wrapped 100 cardboard boxes in brown kraft paper bound with twine and sent them to subscribing members of the Walker Art Center’s Contemporary Arts Group. Fortunately, Joan and Gary Capen did not open their box, because inside they would have found a serially numbered card telling them that they had just destroyed a work of art.

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Details
Title
Untitled (Commemoration of “14,130 Cubic Feet Empaquetage”)
Artist Life
American (born Bulgaria), 1935 - 2020
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.124.1
Provenance
The artist, New York, given to Capen 1966; Gary and Joan Capen, Wayzata. Minn.; given to MIA, 2019.
Catalogue Raisonne
Hovdenakk 4
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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box wrapped in brown wrapping paper, tied with brown twine; two labels on front side: UR, white with scalloped edges, red Minneapolis postmark and project identification; BC, white with the Walker Art return address in blue, a New York City address and the address of the recipient in black received with postcard: front, black and white image of tied and wrapped object with person in LRC; back, address label to recipient on right, object information on left, blue Minneapolis, Minn. postmark (Oct. 19, '66). Not signed

Copyright © Christo. All rights reserved.

Because of © restrictions, we can only show you a small image of this artwork.