Art and sea

London Mastaba

The project

18 June 2018 marked the opening of The London Mastaba, a temporary sculpture in Hyde Park, by world-renowned artist Christo. The sculpture, which consists of 7,506 horizontally stacked barrels on a floating platform in the Serpentine Lake, will be on view until 23 September 2018.

The geometric form of this sculpture takes inspiration from ancient mastabas – benches with two vertical sides, two slanted sides and a flat top – which originate from the first urban civilisations of Mesopotamia. Twenty metres in height, the structure consists of 7,506 horizontally-stacked coloured barrels, specifically fabricated and painted in hues of red, blue, mauve and white, and secured on a floating platform. All materials are certified as having low environmental impact to preserve the ecosystem of the lake.

An Ecological Enhancement Strategy was also developed with The Royal Parks. The sculpture is being paid for entirely by the artist, through the sale of his original works of art.

Construction

The construction of Christo’s temporary sculpture began on 3 April 2018 by JK Basel, Deep Dive Systems, and Coventry Scaffolding as well as a team of engineers from Schlaich Bergermann Partner. The London Mastaba consists of 7,506 horizontally stacked barrels on a floating platform, 20 metres (65.5 ft) high x 30 metres (90 ft) wide (at the 60° slanted walls) x 40 metres (130 ft) long. Standard 55 gallon barrels, 59 x 88 cm (2 ft x 3 ft), were fabricated and painted for the sculpture. The sides of the barrels, visible on the top and on the two slanted walls of the sculpture, are red and white. The ends of the barrels, visible on the two vertical walls, are blue, mauve and a different hue of red.

The sculpture’s floating platform is made of interlocking high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cubes and is held in place with 32 6‑tonne anchors. The barrel-supporting substructure consists of scaffolding and a steel frame that connects to the floating platform. The sculpture’s total weight is 600 metric tonnes (660 US tons) and its footprint takes up approximately 1% of the total surface area of the lake.

Impact

All construction materials are certified as having low environmental impact to preserve the ecosystem of the lake. The removal of the sculpture will begin on 23 September 2018.

While some equipment and materials, such as scaffolding, have been rented and will be returned, the other materials will be removed and industrially recycled in the UK following the project. The London Mastaba is being entirely funded by Christo, through the sale of his original works of art. No public money is used for Christo’s projects and he does not accept sponsorship.

The Royal Parks & Hyde Park

The Royal Parks is a charity created in March 2017 and officially launched in July 2017 to support and manage 5,000 acres of Royal parkland across London. It looks after eight of London’s largest open spaces; Hyde, The Green, Richmond, Greenwich, St James’s, Bushy and The Regent’s Parks, and Kensington Gardens. It also manages other open spaces in the capital, including Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens.

The London Mastaba is a welcome addition to Hyde Park this summer, bringing internationally acclaimed art into the park for visitors to enjoy for free. The Royal Parks has worked very closely with Christo and his team on this project and as a result The Serpentine lake will benefit from substantial investment after the sculpture has gone. This includes ecological improvements on Serpentine Island and creating new habitats, including terrestrial invertebrate habitat creation, waterfowl refuges, heron baskets and bird and bat boxes. Works will improve conditions in the lake, including litter clearance and the re-treatment of Phoslock on the lakebed, to reduce the growth of harmful algae, and are scheduled to take place at a time to cause minimal disruption to wildlife and habitats.

Why don’t you go there?

No tickets or reservations are needed for the exhibition or The London Mastaba. Hyde Park is open daily from 5AM – midnight and the Serpentine Galleries are open 10AM-6PM, daily, throughout the summer. Entry is free.

For disabled access, Liberty Drives provides free mobility for The Royal Parks. There is also full disabled access at the Serpentine Galleries.

A detailed map is available at: www.serpentinegalleries.org.