(from
J. Fineberg, Art Since 1950)

"No artist has had a more sophisticated understanding of political appropriation than Christo. His art relies on the use of his subtle political insight, empowered by the sheer visual beauty of his projects, to engage the public en masse in a critical debate on values." (p 350)

"It is part of the complexity of meaning inn a Christo project that it sets in bold relief all the mechanisms within a society as each constituency attempts to appropriate the reality of Christo's monumental, temporary work of art into its normal manner of functioning."

"Taken together, the fundamental irrationality of these situations that Christo creates, the startling scale and presence of the work in the theater of real events, and its disarming formal beauty prompt nearly everyone to look with fresh eyes at themselves and at the world around them. "The project is teasing society," Christo explained, and society responds, in a way, as it responds in a very normal situation like building bridges, or roads, or highways. What we know is different is that all this energy is put to a fantastic irrational purpose, and that is the essence of the work."

"The political and social forces so delicately interwoven into Christo's process require an involved dialog with people at every point. In the end, the realization of each project depends directly on the outcome on that interaction."

(from
J. Fineberg, Art Since 1950 )