Islands

In May 1983, eleven islands off the coast of Florida were surrounded with a collar of bright pink cloth. For two weeks, the islands looked like giant water lilies in the sea. It was a project by artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude. Their works are always more than just immense conceptual artworks that are displayed for a few weeks and then disappear forever. They are projects that come into being as the result of a concerted effort, with the artist, the landscape and the people that live there as the main ingredients. The period in which the work is prepared is just as much part of the work as the result. The filmmakers followed Christo and his wife during this period, when they were also busy preparing the wrapping of the Reichstag building in Berlin and the Pont Neuf in Paris. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)