In October 1966, at the Minneapolis School of Art, with the assistance of 147 students, Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed the 42,390 Cubic Feet Package.
The core of the air package was comprised of four United States Army high altitude research balloons, each measuring about 18 feet (5.5 meters) in height and 25 feet (7.6 meters) in diameter, each independently sealed, plus 2,800 colored balloons, averaging 28 inches (71 cm) in diameter.
All the balloons were inflated, sealed and then wrapped in 8,000 square feet (740 square meters) of clear polyethylene, which was sealed with Mylar tape and secured with 3,000 feet (914 meters) of Manila rope. The resulting oblong package was further inflated by two air blowers.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude originally intended to fly the 42,390 Cubic Feet Package from the school campus to the front lawn of the nearby Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Although the high altitude research balloons individually weighed a mere 10 pounds (4.5 kg), the total weight of the air package was 500 pounds (225 kg). Because of gusty air turbulence, the Aviation Agency forbade the planned airlift and the helicopter lifted the air package only 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground.
In return for an original drawing, art collectors and friends of the artists Helen and David Johnson paid for the rental of the helicopter and the pilot’s fee. To cover the other costs of the project, Christo created an edition of 100 Wrapped Boxes that, unlike Christo’s usual wrapping, resembled ordinary parcels and were mailed to members of the Contemporary Arts Group. Those members who inadvertently opened the mailed boxes found inside each one a signed and numbered certificate stating: “You have just destroyed a work of art.”
Christo 