Jorge Luis Borges wrote a very short story called “On Exactitude of Science” in which the “art” of cartography attained such perfection that they made a map of the Empire “whose size was that of the Empire, and which coincided point for point with it.” When it was unfolded for use, the map would drape over the entire country and was, of course, useless.
Christo has received two leases for his “Over the River” project. He plans to wrap our Arkansas River with fabric panels suspended horizontally above the water level following its course. His “artistic vision” is “to create a play of contrast allowing sunlight to illuminate the river on both sides … the luminous translucent fabric will highlight the contours of the clouds, the mountains and the vegetation,” he says.
I take pride in being from the American West. Despite the attempts to dismiss this as a myth, the soul of Colorado still lies in the motivation to succeed in a land greater than its inhabitants. Whether you were born here or moved here matters none. Do you possess this spirit of the West?
My grandfather did and he passed his values down to me. He had a distrusting irreverence for “high society” and a healthy respect for the land. He was an engineer for the railroad and drove trains between Texas, California and all points in between.
I know what my grandfather would say if he heard that an artist from New York wanted to spend $50 million to put fabric up along the river for two weeks: “That boy couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the directions were written on the heel.” I can see him shaking his head as he says it.
It’s really not unlike spending $200 on a roll a toilet paper. One comment that came from a public hearing in Caà on City likened Christo’s project to a “graffiti artist tagging a masterpiece.”
Tolstoy said that the purpose of art is to transmit “the highest and best feeling to which men have risen.”
In this case, the best feeling we can attain is to humbly appreciate the artistic hand that created our mountains and rivers. After all, people come from around the world to do so every year. Christo’s art project is as useless as a map the size of the state.
Edward Abbey wrote, “The world is what it is, no less and no more, and therein lies its entire and sufficient meaning.” I don’t have to tell you that he didn’t write that in New York City.
I am certain that Christo will get his permits and his project will be realized. Sadly, our local politicians are all too eager to be gracious to this artist who has promised dollars and visitors. Most of these men and women have lost what my grandfather would have called “guts,” setting their minds instead on Washington and their careers as politicians.
I remember how disgusted granddad would get with politicians. Now I get it. To think that there are men and women whose day takes them from a limousine to an air-conditioned office making decisions about the land out West seems a little ridiculous. I don’t like the Potomacentric view.
And it’s not that Christo hasn’t gone through and identified environmental and social concerns. He has been thorough in his plan to mitigate. He’s going to put out water bowls for our state symbol, the bighorn sheep, so that they might get a drink if they don’t want to approach the river with it draped.
More than anything else, I dislike his project because of the egocentric mindset it represents. To me Christo stands for an indoor mentality where man lives not as an integral part of his environment but as an arrogant conquerer.
The Ute Indians, early inhabitants of this land, and the pioneers who arrived in search of fortune and space, molded themselves to the rhythm of the elements in this extreme place. Christo’s “Over the River” project showcases the imperial mind of man, ravenous in his exploitation, and driven by his machine instincts living at odds with his environment.
If the Ute were a raft that moves with flow and current, then Christo’s project would be a motorboat bucking wind and waves.
Sure, we have the resources and power to exploit every corner of Colorado, but does that mean we should?
Jeff McAbee (jjmcabee@yahoo.com) of Breckenridge writes for the Summit Daily News.
