''Running Fence'' was an

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

piece by

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

, which was completed on September 10, 1976. The art installation was first conceived in 1972, but the actual project took more than four years to plan and build. After it was installed, the builders removed it 14 days later, leaving no visible trace behind.

The Installation

The art installation consisted of a veiled fence long extending across the hills of Sonoma and Marin counties in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The high fence was made of 200,000 square meters (2,222,222 square feet) of heavy woven white nylon fabric, which created 2,050 panels, and was hung from steel cables by means of 350,000 hooks. The cables were supported by 2,050 steel poles (each: 6.4 meters / 21 feet long or 9 centimeters / 3.5 inches in diameter) embedded 1 meter (3 feet) into the ground, braced by steel guy wires (145 kilometers / 90 miles of steel cable), 14,000 earth anchors, and without any concrete. The route of the fence began near

U.S. Highway 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

and crossed 14 roads and the private property of 59 ranchers to reach the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

near

Bodega Bay Bodega Bay ( es, Bahía Bodega) is a shallow, rocky inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California in the United States. It is approximately across and is located approximately northwest of San Francisco and west of Santa R ...

. The art project required 42 months of collaborative efforts, 18 public hearings, 3 sessions at the Superior Courts of California, and the drafting of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR); the required

EIR In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...

for the piece was 450 pages long. All expenses for the temporary work of art were paid by Christo and Jeanne-Claude through the sale of studies, preparatory drawings and collages, scale models and original lithographs. The piece is said to have been partly inspired by fences demarcating the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

Legacy

The piece is commemorated by historic markers at

Watson School Watson School is a Sonoma County Regional Parks Department historic park, covering approximately , located about east of Bodega, California, on the south side of the road, at 15000 Bodega Highway in Sonoma County, California, United States. It ...

near

Bodega, California Bodega is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County in the U.S. state of California. The town had a population of 220 as of the 2010 Census. Bodega is located on Bodega Highway, about west of Freestone, C ...

and at State Route 1 in Valley Ford, California. In December 1976, the County Landmarks Commission, County of Sonoma designated the Valley Ford site (pole #7-33) as History Landmark #24. The largest remaining intact and continuous section of the ''Running Fence'' hangs below the ceiling of the Rio Theater in

Monte Rio, California Monte Rio (Spanish: ''Monte Río'', meaning "River Mountain") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California along the Russian River near the Pacific Ocean. The town of Guerneville lies northeast of Monte Rio, and Jenner is to ...

. Between April 1, 2010 through September 25, 2010, ''Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the Running Fence'' was on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition comprised over 350 archival and related works and photographs, and visitors could touch the actual nylon fabric panels and steel poles from the original work of art.

Documentary

The piece was the subject of a 1978 documentary film ''Running Fence'' by

Albert and David Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...

. Malin, Janet The film includes scenes showing the local response to the project, which ranged from excitement to resentment and active protest. Several Californians including Expressionist painter

Byron Randall Byron Randall (October 23, 1918 – August 11, 1999) was an American West Coast artist, well known for his expressionist paintings and printmaking. A contemporary of artists Pablo O'Higgins, Anton Refregier, Robert P. McChesney, Emmy Lou Packa ...

protested the piece on the grounds of both land infringement and lack of artistic merit; however others appreciated the beauty of the work and in the end the project was completed.Vogels, Jonathan B. (2010). ''The Direct Cinema of David and Albert Maysles''. pp.111-123. SIU Press.

Gallery

Running Fence Watson School sign.jpg, Sign at

ChristoMarker3185.jpg, One of two commemorative markers in Valley Ford, California

References

External links

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: ''Running Fence''Photo of ''Running Fence'' section in Rio Theater auditoriumGallery of 24 historic photos from the ''Santa Rosa Press-Democrat'' newspaper archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Running Fence Installation art works Outdoor sculptures in California 1976 sculptures History of Sonoma County, California History of the San Francisco Bay Area History of Marin County, California Parks in Sonoma County, California West Marin Fabric sculptures Art in the San Francisco Bay Area Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude