Did Christo plan to dye the fog?
March 18, 2013 4:58 PM Subscribe
I "remember" a proposed project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude to dye the fog that comes through the Golden Gate between San Francisco and Marin County. I don't think it ever came to fruition, but I do think it was proposed. Am I making that up?
I can't find anything about it. Searches for "Christo" that have the word "Gate" in them only turn up the Gates project in Central Park in NY. I'm pretty sure this project was proposed, but I can't find any evidence for it. Buh?
I can't find anything about it. Searches for "Christo" that have the word "Gate" in them only turn up the Gates project in Central Park in NY. I'm pretty sure this project was proposed, but I can't find any evidence for it. Buh?
Response by poster: Heh, that's me. Maybe I did make it up.
posted by trip and a half at 5:08 PM on March 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by trip and a half at 5:08 PM on March 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
It's not about dying the fog, but in this interview they talk about how the fog in Marin County rolls in and out throughout the day, covering and uncovering their work Running Fence.
posted by theuninvitedguest at 9:55 PM on March 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by theuninvitedguest at 9:55 PM on March 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It wasn't Christo -- it was an artist named Paul St. James, about whom I can find nothing else. Apparently written up in the Wall Street Journal in 1981, per an apparent wire story [De Baca County News, Sep. 17, 1981] I also found references to it in the unsearchable ("snippet view", but no snippets actually showing) New Yorker archive on GBooks -- otherwise I would have supposed this one reference in a rural New Mexico newspaper close to spurious. Oh, wait -- in 1984 he succeeded in skywriting "halos" over the Bay. At the time, he was based in Sausalito. And here's confirmation of his proposal to create the "world's largest painting" on the Utah salt flats.
posted by dhartung at 1:18 AM on March 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by dhartung at 1:18 AM on March 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Awesome work, dhartung! Thanks so much! I KNEW I didn't just dream it or make it up.
I must've conflated it with Christo/Jeanne-Claude's projects just because it seems like something they might come up with, and because they were working in the Bay Area around that time.
Thanks again so much!
posted by trip and a half at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2013
I must've conflated it with Christo/Jeanne-Claude's projects just because it seems like something they might come up with, and because they were working in the Bay Area around that time.
Thanks again so much!
posted by trip and a half at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2013
Best answer: I've found a snippet from the New Yorker -- it was one of their filler (end of typeset article) pieces in the category LIFE IN CALIFORNIA, naturally. To which one (from New York, obviously) can only blink and reply, But of course.
LIFE IN CALIFORNIA [Frum the Sausalito (Calif.) Marin Scope] If the Marin County Environmental Health Department says yes, Sausalito may have rainbow fog one day this August. Paul St. James has received permission to dye the fog from....
posted by dhartung at 10:26 PM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
LIFE IN CALIFORNIA [Frum the Sausalito (Calif.) Marin Scope] If the Marin County Environmental Health Department says yes, Sausalito may have rainbow fog one day this August. Paul St. James has received permission to dye the fog from....
posted by dhartung at 10:26 PM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kelseyq at 5:06 PM on March 18, 2013 [1 favorite]