Friday, November 04, 2011

Man on Wire

To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers
To Reach the Clouds: 
My High Wire Walk 

Between the Twin Towers 

"I walk on the wire like a funambulist."


This is a poetic book that takes your breath away with its photography. Even black and white photos of Petit walking the high wire between the two towers are dramatic and mesmerizing. Petit focuses on his six year journey from the moment he reads a newspaper article about the construction of the World Trade Center to the fateful early morning when he completes his journey. While there was a lifetime of preparation for this achievement the moment is all.
Yet it is with his spare and, at times, poetic prose that he captures the reader's attention with his many moments of improvisation along the way as he gathered the necessary aid and materials to accomplish his task. The reality of his journey is in many ways stranger than fiction until you reflect that this event actually happened. For many of us it happened in our lifetime and this record of it helps to preserve the memory of the New York City skyline from the previous century.  The event has been preserved on film in the excellent documentary Man on Wire.  
Philippe Petit is an individual artist, a magician, a juggler, and a funambulist of uncommon stature and abilities. He will always be remembered for his artistic achievements and his unique accomplishments on the high wire.


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