christo and jeanne-claude’s ‘mastaba’ is realized through NFTs

by James · October 26, 2022

NFT campaign for Christo’s latest work

For Christo died, two years ago, he wanted to complete the last two projects designed by him and his wife Jeanne-Claude. Thus he asked his nephew, Vladimir Yavachev, who was also their project director for the past 32 years, to promise that he would bring ‘Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped’ and ‘The Mastaba‘ for life. The first case the realization in September 2021while for the other, the artist’s nephew is now launching a campaign to make it happen. ‘It is our last vow and our last mission,’ Vladimir Yavachev shared at Bloomberg’s CityLab conference in Amsterdam. Started in 1977, the huge Ziggurat will stand in Abu Dhabi’s deserts and will be large enough to fit two large pyramids.

The entire artwork, which is 150 meters high, 300 meters long and 225 meters wide, will comprise 410,000 oil barrels, while celebrating the artist’s largest permanent work of art worldwide. To subsidize the project, the foundation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude will sell one NFT per barrel. “The project does not rely on government funding, and since the estimated cost is around $400 million, we are really looking at many innovative ways (including NFTs) to bring this to life. It’s actually pretty straightforward math: if you make 410.00 NFT for each barrel priced at 10K each, then you have your desired amount,’ so Yavachev.

all images © Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation | Christo in his studio doing preparatory work for The Mastaba New York City, April 15, 2012

the mastaba is set to be permanent

When Christo and Jeanne-Claude were asked how they had so much patience to create this colossal work of art, they always replied: ‘it’s not a matter of patience, it’s a matter of passion’. The artists’ dream of packing the Arc de Triomphe was revived in September 2021. Now the artist foundation will use non-fungible tokens to support construction and maintenance.

All the duo’s projects were self-financed. The same applies to the monumental sculpture made of hundreds of thousands of oil barrels. Construction is slated to last four years, but as Yavachev mentioned, ‘it will be very sexually elevated in just two weeks’. Ten height towers will be used to lift the barrels into place and shape the monument.

After 12 to 15 years, the drums must be replaced, so every NFT owner will be able to take their original 55-litre oil drum. “It’s like cathedrals are built from sponsored stones, but in this case you can take the stone home with you.”

Mastaba in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates project) | scale model 1979

video still of ‘CityLab 2022’ during Vladimir Yavachev speech at Bloomberg’s CityLab conference | ten height towers lift the perimeter walls of the ‘Mastaba’ into place

Christo at the proposed site of The Mastaba, United Arab Emirates, 13 March 2017