Christo's temporary works of art sweep through the landscape like a storm and blow over just as quickly, leaving no trace on the scene they so imaginatively transformed. They survive only in memory, in photographs, in books, in films, and perhaps most evocatively in the artist's own prints. Valley Curtain, Running Fence, Surrounded Islands, and many others have been vividly captured in his distinctive hand, providing lasting documents of ephemeral experiences...The objects and prints are enormously diverse, as are the techniques and media employed. Yet rather than reflecting a concern for graphic innovation, this diversity arises directly from the process of planning, developing and realizing the projects. The activity of drawing and collage is a preparatory one with Christo. The designs he makes at this phase anticipate realization, representing imaginative projections of something that must first come to being. Yet they are not merely beautiful visions. On closer examination, we notice that these drawings, like architectural renderings or engineering sketches, contain much information about technical details. This sets them apart from utopian designs. In preparing a project Christo makes sketches and pastes in the actual materials he plans to employ. He makes frequent use of topographic photographs, adding elements of drawing and collage, using the photograph as a background for his draftsmanship.
- Jörg Schellmann and Joséphine Benecke, Editors, Christo: Prints and Objects
Edition Schellmann, Munich, Abbeville Press, New York, 1988, page 10