The Groove 172 - Why You Must Marry The Artist and The Entrepreneur
WHY YOU MUST MARRY THE ARTIST AND THE ENTREPRENEUR
When confronted with the outdated notion that you must choose between entrepreneurship and artistry, boldly suggest to those people that they take a scenic hike. Such divisions are remnants of a bygone era, where people were pigeonholed into neat containers, creating workplace efficiency while relegating artists with dreams of parallel universes and fantastical pursuits to their studios. It's time to break free from these confining constraints and embrace the dynamic synergy of entrepreneurship and artistry, forging a path that defies antiquated boundaries.
It’s hard to find a thriving artist or entrepreneur who hasn't seamlessly blended these two mindsets without the need for a dramatic costume change behind the scenes.
A couple in work and life, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were artists who embraced their entrepreneurial sides with enormous success. Both were born at the same hour on the exact date (June 13, 1935) - he in Gabrovo, Bulgaria and she in Casablanca, Morocco. While twenty years later Jeanne-Claude had moved to France with her family, Christo had escaped communism in Bulgaria, passing through Prague, Vienna, and Geneva until finally arriving in Paris in 1958. Shortly after, the pair met, fell in love, and got married. In 1964, looking for new opportunities, they relocated to New York.
The Artist’s Mind
Christo and Jeanne-Claude in their studio with preparatory works for Surrounded Islands. New York City, 1981. Photo: Bob Kiss ©1981 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation
Free from reality’s constraints, the artist's mind is akin to the child’s mind. It dreams weird and impossible things and has enormous vision. Without this level of thinking we wouldn’t have the Sistine Chapel, and neither would we have cars, computers, smartphones, e-commerce, or social media.
Both Christo and Jeanne-Claude were artists whose imaginations went all-in. In the mid-1960s they began to envision what would become their trademark: projects of such level of ambition that not only made history but also haven’t been replicated by anyone since.
Their most iconic contribution was the concept of "wrapping" entire buildings, landscapes, islands, and monuments with fabric, transforming familiar landmarks into mesmerizing works of art. Notable examples include the wrapping of the 11 Biscayne Bay islands in 1983, Pont Neuf in Paris in 1985, and the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995. The latter became such a celebrated and contentious project that it was fiercely opposed by Helmut Kohl, the Chancellor of Germany, to no avail. Kohl was defeated by the parliament vote and the building was covered in its entirety by the artists following 24 years of governmental lobbying. Many consider this project to be the pair’s most spectacular achievement of their careers.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1983. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. ©1983 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation
The artist’s mind of these two was focused on working with millions of square feet of fabric, challenging conventional notions of space and perception, and making everything ephemeral. A project could take two decades to realize but they never displayed them longer than two weeks. Several years before the era of selfies, trivial places like the Museum of Ice Cream, and legit art museums trying to boost their attendance with Instagrammable exhibitions, Christo and Jeanne Claude had already figured out the appeal of arresting installations through ephemeral art.
Christo brilliantly articulated their guiding principle behind the impermanence of their projects: “the quality of love and tenderness that we human beings have for what does not last.”
But the formidable thing is the independence of their ideas, so characteristic of the artist’s mind: “Every true artist does the same. We create those works for ourselves and our friends, and if the public enjoys it, that is only a bonus.”
Also, in line with their artistic ethos, they never accepted government funding or private sponsorship to finance their projects. While I don’t recommend that every entrepreneur bootstrap every phase of their businesses if they really want to grow, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s approach of running a practice absolute carte-blanche, free from orders or compromise, offers an incredible blueprint for those aiming to scale ambitiously, especially if financial independence allows for such creative autonomy.
The Entrepreneur’s Mind
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, “The Gates”, Central Park, New York City, 2005. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. ©2005 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation
The risk-taking, results-driven, network-building, managerial and on-top-of-every-dollar mentality is never at odds with the artist's mind; rather they are different dimensions of the unified whole.
One of the most ambitious projects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude was “The Gates”, finally unveiled in February 2005 in New York’s Central Park. It took the artists 26 years to see the fulfillment of their vision. It cost them $21 million to fund it and the money came from a combination of sales of their own preparatory drawings, maquettes, and collages, along with bank loans that were secured using their artworks in storage as collateral.
For each project, the artists incorporated a company that they used to receive funding and to pay all the people involved (usually engineers and environmental experts who prepared hundreds of plans and studies as well as fabricators and workers who installed the structures and fabrics), and once the project was completed and everyone paid, the company was dissolved.
“The Gates” was both loved and maligned, but it generated a lot of buzz, so much so that Harvard Business School came knocking. HBS was so interested in the couple’s model that it created a case study based on Christo and Jeanne-Claude that was taught in an entrepreneurship class for MBA students.
Even for the artists, at first, being “entrepreneurs” came with some skepticism: “Most people don't think of us as artists. Other artists often called us entrepreneurs, and we used to take that as an insult. Then one day a friend of ours, the Swiss collector Torsten Lilja, said to us: ‘An entrepreneur is somebody who enterprises, and enterprise you certainly do.’ Well, I wish someone had told us this earlier.”
Vision, Passion and Perseverance
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1995. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. ©1995 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation
English playwright John Heywood wrote in 1538 that “Rome wasn't built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour”. This is a reminder that it requires daily effort, time and perseverance to create something iconic.
Meaningful and extraordinary achievements rarely materialize overnight, especially without the driving force of passion. The real magic lies in tenaciously holding onto your vision. Take a cue from Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who, recognizing the importance of local permits, wisely abandoned unattainable projects. Yet for those within reach, they poured years of boundless dedication, with the artists’ commitment evident in their admission to working 14 hours a day, fueled by sheer love for their craft.
Christo was such an incredibly talented draftsman that by the time a project was completed and the artists and team looked at his preparatory drawings, Jeanne-Claude said ,“It almost looks like we've seen a photo of the project. It's so perfect! And this is how our engineers can build it, because finally, it's neat and clear and crystallized, exactly what it will look like.” Their vision became vividly real as they moved forward, and it’s what kept their passion alive and their desire to persevere against all odds.
While the term “vision board” might sound a bit cringey and associated with self-help “gurus,” there's a hidden power in crafting a visual representation of your goal. When paired with unwavering determination and backed by consistent action, it transforms from a clichéd concept into an unstoppable force propelling you toward success.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude accepted that they were both artists and entrepreneurs, navigated bureaucratic challenges, engaged with local populations, lobbied before politicians, got deeply entrenched into every aspect of their projects and funded them entirely on their own. It's a testament to the relentless pursuit of passion and vision that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.
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