Fifty years ago on Wednesday, the French high-wire artist Philippe Petit carried his life a quarter of a mile through the New York City sky on a tightrope.
When asked why, he said it was simply because the World Trade Center towers were there.
“If I see two towers, I have to walk,” he told The New York Times.
We are living in high-wire times, with anxiety and fracture all around us, and it is the job of the artist to show that we can, in fact, get from one side to the other.
He didn’t defy gravity; he aligned himself with it, and in so doing he allowed us to defy our own possible falling down.
Persons:
Philippe Petit, ”, Petit, Frenchman
Organizations:
New, World Trade, New York Times
Locations:
New York