COMING ATTRACTIONS

Christo says his goal is “a gentle disturbance” of the mind. More often, his work borders on mind-boggling. The artist’s latest undertaking aspires to create a gentle disturbance on an even grander scale--simultaneously in California and Japan. Christo’s plan calls for about 1,500 yellow octagonal umbrellas, 19.8 feet high and 26.4 feet in diameter, to blossom like California poppies in the Tehachapi Mountains 60 miles north of Los Angeles. At the same time, he plans to unfold another 1,500 umbrellas--identical except they will be blue--in the lush rural valley of Japan’s Ibaraki prefecture, 72 miles north of Tokyo. The estimated cost? Between $8 million and $10 million. Christo hopes to bring “The Umbrellas: Joint Project for Japan and the USA,” to fruition in October, 1990.