A mastaba in Hyde Park. Christo’s project for London
7.506 barrels of oil placed on a platform of plastic cubes will float in the Serpentine lake inside Hyde Park in London. It is the latest project of Christo, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Vth Florence Biennial 2005, and will be inaugurated on 20 June, two years after the “The Floating Piers” on the Iseo Lake. So a few days after the closing of the Brafa Art Fair, where the Bulgarian artist was a guest of honor, his next work was approved by the City Council of Westminster. The new structure is inspired by the “mastaba”, monumental mound tombs of ancient Egypt. It will be about twenty meters high and will weigh 500 tons. The dominant colors will be white, red and blue, as a reference to the English flag. The inauguration of the installation will coincide with the opening of the exhibition dedicated to him and his wife (who died in 2009) at the Serpentine Gallery.