Week 9: Pont Neuf

So for Semaine Numéro Neuf we headed to the Pont Neuf ! (I’d love to say I’d planned that, but it was pure serendipity). The Pont Neuf (new Bridge) is – ironically – the oldest standing bridge across the Seine. It was one of the first bridges not to be lined with houses (the King of the time didn’t want them blocking the view of his pad...the Louvre!) and also one of the first to have pavements. While in its heyday it was famously covered with street performers, vendors and charlatans, in its day it was a hotbed of crime and even had its own gallows for a while. Nowadays though, it is a far safer – though no less busy – tourist spot, affording lovely views of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. As far as I’m concerned, however, the Pont Neuf hit its high point in 1985 when artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the entire bridge in 40, 000m2 of polyamide fabric.

NOT MY PHOTO
artpool.hu

Yes, you heard me, wrapped it.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who became famous for creating (mostly temporary) “environmental” works of art. They met in Paris in 1958 and travelled all over the world completing enormous, crazy projects like this, this, and this. But they always flew in different planes so that if one of them crashed, the other could carry on their work.

Shirt - Primark

NOT MY PHOTO - francemagazine.org

Hat - Asos

They didn’t have any particular messages behind their work – they just wanted it to be beautiful and to make people see familiar landscapes in a new way. Their wrapped Pont Neuf kept all the principal shapes of the bridge, but also emphasised the details and proportions of it. The art critic David Bourdon referred to their work as “revelation through concealment”.

NOT MY PHOTO - wiki.uoiwa

This may seem like a somewhat arbitrary and fashion-centric link, but this idea of “revelation through concealment” is also relevant to one of Spring-Summer 2013’s big trends: mesh. With mesh fabric you can create clothes which change completely the silhouette of the wearer, without hiding away their shape completely. Take – for example, this middle piece by Stella McCartney.  The cut of the jumper gives the model broad shoulders and a boxy, sporty look, but we are still very aware of how slim she really is because the slight transparency of the fabric means we can still see her arms. It’s also a very versatile material – it can be girly(Helmut Lang), or sleek (Celine), or sexily decadent (McQueen), it can offer a retro twist (Jason Wu) or a futuristic one (Tess Giberson). It’s also great for the warmer months.

Skirt - Yumi at Asos

Shoes - H&M

Scarf - Present

Are you convinced? I was, and opted for this lovely floaty mesh skirt and chiffon top, trying to keep to watery colours so as to match the Seine (over-thinking? Me?) Sadly, it turns out that what is a "midi skirt" on a normal person, is really quite long on me so I channelled my inner schoolgirl and wound over the waistband a couple of times then hid the join with a belt.

Belt - Marina Retro

We had a brilliant day for the shoot – the sun was out, it was warm and we had a nice wee breeze which floated the gauzy skirt around perfectly. We found ourselves a free cubby-hole along the bridge (apparently they are really called "bastions" and they were there for pedestrians to duck into if they needed to make way for a particularly bulky carriage) and got started. Then the oddest thing happened: a group of Spaniards came up to us and asked whether I would mind posing for a photo with a bag of coffee, since one of them owned a coffee brand. Apparently I looked very Parisian – which I took as a huge compliment – but I can't help but feel a little guilty that the potential French face of El Delicio coffee is actually a Brit...