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July 31, 2019— (Key West, FL).  Key West Art & Historical Society Present  “The Floating Piers” documentary of installation artist Christo at Tropic Cinema

On Tuesday, August 13, Key West Art & Historical Society presents the second in their new Tuesday night “Art & Artists” summer film series, screening at the Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton Street. The films, curated and hosted by Society board member and cineaste Michael Shields and other special guest experts, start at 6:00pm and run through Tuesday, September 24.  Next up is “Walking on Water,” an intimate portrait of installation artist Christo and the stakes of large-scale art.

In June of 2016, “The Floating Piers,” a 1.86 mile-long, 16-meter wide saffron-colored walkway installation across Italy’s Lake Isea that continued an additional 1.55 miles down the pedestrian streets of Sulzano and Peschiera, opened to the public.  It took 600 workers to install, included 220 six-ton anchors in the lake floor as deep as 302 feet, more than 270 thousand attached cubes, 70 thousand square meters of fabric, and cost nearly $17 million dollars which Christo funded himself through the sales of his art. The free public installation was open for only 16 days.

Boasting uncensored access to the artist and his team, “Walking on Water” is an unprecedented look at Christo’s process, from the inception through to the completion of the piece that was experienced by over 1.2 million people. The film takes the viewer on an intimate journey into Christo’s world amid mounting madness – from complex dealings between art and state politics to engineering challenges, logistical nightmares and the sheer force of mother nature. Captured through breathtaking aerial views and fly-on-the-wall camerawork, we watch the artist’s vision unfold and get to know the man chasing it.

Films to follow are:  animated wonder “Chico and Rita” (August 27), “Kevin Roche: The Quiet Architect” (September 10), and “Russian Ark,” a film that moves through 33 rooms of St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum (September 17). Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at TropicCinema.com. For more information, visit kwahs.org, click “Tickets.”  Your Museums.  Your Community.  It takes an Island.

IMAGE:

Part of the dahlia-yellow “The Floating Piers” walkway art installation at Lake Iseo. The documentary film, “Walking on Water,” an intimate portrait of installation artist Christo and the stakes of large-scale art, will be presented by Key West Art & Historical Society at the Tropic Cinema on Tuesday, August 13 at 6:00pm. (Photo by Marcio De Assis via Wikipedia)