''Running Fence'' was an

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

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 a ...

, which was completed in California 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.

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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

south of

Bodega Bay Bodega Bay () 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 Rosa, California, S ...

. The fence entered the Pacific Ocean at a point about midway between the Estero Americano and the

Estero de San Antonio Estero de San Antonio is a stream in the northern California counties of Marin and Sonoma which empties into Bodega Bay. Course The Estero springs just north of the Marin-Sonoma county line (from a hill overlooking Bloomfield, California) and ...

, in northwestern Marin County. 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 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. Originally conceived in 1972 as ''Curtains for West Berlin'' to block the view of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, the project relocated to rural Sonoma and Marin Counties just south of the historic Russian settlements of Fort Ross and Port Rumyantsev at

in the Mexican bulwark of Rancho Americano. It is also 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 ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Christo emphasized that he considered Running Fence to encompass its social, legal, and technical dimensions. An alternative location at Harmony, California for a 24.5 mile fence installation was scouted by Jeanne-Claude and Christo in 1973.

Legacy

The piece is commemorated by historic markers at Watson School near Bodega, California 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. 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. The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa has a permanent exhibit on Christo featuring a portion of fabric from the Running Fence. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip featured Christo's art and the Running Fence in 1978.

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 in ...

. 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 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

File:Running Fence Watson School sign.jpg, Sign at Watson School File:ChristoMarker3185.jpg, One of two commemorative markers in Valley Ford, California File:Running Fence map with notes.jpg, The Running Fence's 24.5 mile course with Russian, Mexican, and American historic features noted.

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 archives50th Anniversary of the 1972 beginning of Christo's ''Running Fence'' project - Panel Discussion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Running Fence 1976 sculptures Art in the San Francisco Bay Area Fabric sculptures History of Marin County, California History of Sonoma County, California History of the San Francisco Bay Area Installation art works Outdoor sculptures in California Parks in Sonoma County, California West Marin Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude