Christo

Christo, Look, 1965

In the early 1960s Christo embarked on what would become his signature style: wrapping everyday objects such as bottles and canned goods in plastic and other materials. His wrappings highlight the theme of consumer packaging and the commodification of culture in the postwar era while raising questions about the nature of art and artistic authorship. For his series of originals for Edition MAT, Christo chose one hundred issues of the biweekly popular magazine Look and wrapped each one in polyethylene, secured with a cord and mounted onto a painted wooden support. The cover of each issue is legible through the transparent material; titles include “The Changing World of Japanese Women” and featured topics include the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the onset of World War I. Encasing the publication preserves this otherwise ephemeral record of culture while spotlighting concerns specific to the postwar sociocultural landscape.

Image credit

Christo (American, b. Bulgaria, 1935), Look, 1965. Magazine wrapped in plastic and cord on painted wood, 55/100, 22 1/16 x 18 1/8 x 1 9/16 in. (56 x 46 x 4 cm). Published by Edition MAT / Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne. Ludwig Museum Koblenz, Germany. © Christo.