| 12/27/2005 9:05:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Perceptions of art
by Merle Baranczyk
Editor/Publisher
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will hold public hearings about the Over The River Project Jan. 18 in Cotopaxi and Jan. 19 in Salida.
As proposed, the Christo and Jean-Claude work would drape sections of the Arkansas River, starting at the Chaffee-Fremont county line about 5 miles east of Salida and extending 40 miles east to Parkdale.
In total, about 7 miles of the 40 miles would be draped, with the longest segment from Parkdale west about 2.5 miles to Spikebuck.
Two of the main criticisms of the proposed project revolve around potential harm to the environment and traffic concerns. Neither of these questions, though, should prevent the project from taking place.
The stretch involved along U.S. 50 and the Arkansas River between Salida and Parkdale – Bighorn Sheep Canyon – hardly resembles anything even remotely close to a pristine wilderness area.
For starters, the highway borders the south side of the river for miles. Rock and dirt obviously had to be moved to create the roadway. Thousands of cars travel the route every day. On the river’s north side, the railroad runs the length of the canyon, although trains are not at this time traveling through the valley. The Arkansas is sandwiched between these two major works of man.
Steel posts that will be used to anchor the cables from which fabric will be hung would in most cases be pounded into the dirt and rock supporting the highway and the railroad. This would not be a major disruption to animal life inhabiting the canyon at this time of year, namely snakes, lizards, ground squirrels and the like.
In late summer, when the project would actually be hanging, bighorn sheep are typically at higher elevations. While some herds would no doubt be on the river during this time, they have learned to cope with the highway, traffic and the railroad. It would be reasonable to presume they would not be harmed or driven out by steel posts or cables.
The river itself would see little if any impact from the hangings that it does not currently experience or see. Water would flow as it does now with little effect from the posts, cables or fabric.
Once the project would be complete, the cables and posts would be removed. It’s difficult to imagine how the areas where the posts would be placed would be permanently disfigured. For the most part, the posts would be driven into dirt and rock rubble and once removed would show few if any traces of the project.
Traffic through the canyon would obviously increase when the project was erected. However, Over the River would be on display for only two weeks before fabric would be removed. Given this short period of time it would seem a suitable traffic plan could be worked out.
To mitigate safety questions, it would not be all that surprising if sponsors would hire a helicopter service
Certainly, the project would require increased traffic patrols for the two-week period. In addition, staging areas could be established at parking areas at Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area sites and at unimproved pullouts along the river or from nearby areas.
On earlier projects, the artists have shown an uninterrupted history of resolving issues, from local to national governments, whether they be New York City or communist East Germany. To Christo and Jean-Claude, the process of obtaining permission for their projects is as much an art as are the engineering and the creations themselves.
Take away environmental impacts and put a traffic and safety plan in place and what Over the River comes down to is how a person views art.
That is, it all depends on personal perception.
— MJB
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