Ethical Review: MAN ON WIRE
By BARCODE 2x
Watching Philippe Petit, the wild-eyed hero of MAN ON WIRE, you feel that here, strangely enough, is someone you trust. He wants to pull his "coup", walking on a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. And he inspires a kind of confidence in everyone around him, that even this impossible task, this death-defying stunt, is possible.
In the accompanying book, originally titled To Reach the Clouds, Petit takes the reader through his life as a street performer, mime, and juggler. Wire walking came to him late in his teens. He describes himself as more than just a daredevil. He is a poet who writes his words in the sky. What he does is illegal. But he is never convicted. He is never really even charged with anything. His skills take him beyond the law, and somehow, beyond ethics. Do magicians have ethics?
He never really talks about death, or even fear. He is so focused, so utterly poised, laughing in the face of danger, making 8 passes from one tower to the next, that you are completely sure that nothing can kill him. He could fall into the empty space between the towers. If he dies, then he would be dying in a spectacular way, doing the thing he is most passionate about.
When the towers were first built, he followed the story. He became obsessed, and came to know the architecture as well as anyone. Using photographs, blueprints, and sneaking daily to the top of the north tower, he masters his subject. He knows the buildings the way a sculptor comes to know his model and his stone. He forms a team of friends who watch him train, and help sneak him and his gear to the top. And one morning, in August 1974, he was seen walking on the tightrope, dancing, laying down, laughing, eight times back and forth over the 200 or more meters between buildings.
He is an artist and an engineer as well. He designs his apparatus to withstand the pressure of the shifting buildings. All structures have flexibility to them, and with the wind between the towers, and the natural shifts, the cable can be stretched. In one movement, the cable can go from 3 tons of pressure to 300,000 tons. The cable could snap like a thread. But Petit has taken every precaution. The book and documentary demonstrate the hidden science behind great art.
One cannot think of the two towers any more without seeing the images of their destruction. Man on Wire celebrates this mammoth achievement of architecture, but leaves one wanting a little more, perhaps. What does Petit think now? What does he make of 9/11? The terrorists who flew the planes were part of an elaborate exploration just like his. He meant to celebrate the impossible, and the terrorists sought to destroy these giant monuments. The story of his years-long preparation, while inspiring and innovative, cannot help but trigger a chill in the viewer.
Artists have to push boundaries. Artists are not expected to maintain conventional moral codes. In fact, they are celebrated for breaking the everyday conventions that bind the rest of society. Art itself may be amoral, neither good nor evil. A painting is just a painting.
But art has the power to incite violence. It can inspire danger, and now for generations, Petit may have inspired reckless daredevilry in curious people. When something is illegal, we do not often need to question whether or not it is ethical. What he did was highly illegal. And yet he was celebrated for it. The authorities granted special dispensation to this artist. He was released later that day, and at the invitation of a strange woman who waited outside, he retired to her waterbed to make love, before he even met up with his friends, girlfriend, and accomplices. He is of loose morality, but we love him for it.
Earlier in his career, he walked on a wire over the Sydney Harbor bridge. When he was arrested, the first thing he did was pickpocket the policeman's watch. He has a magical air, a unique charm about him. He is persuasive. He has the unique blend of physical ability, poise, charm, leadership, and knowledge to succeed at almost anything. He wanted to do something impossible. And he did. And in doing so, he added a new dimension to our ongoing discussion of ethics in art. Are his ethics art in themselves? Are his strange, wonderful, mischievous ways persuasive and charming enough to go beyond our moral framework? Petit has successfully walked between the towers of the World Trade Center. He left clues along the way. He tempted the press and the authorities along the way. He wanted to dance with danger. He wanted to try and be caught. "Le coup", as he called his caper, was his dare to the world to try and stop the creative process. In doing the impossible, he walked on the wire between what is fundamentally wrong and what is completely thrilling and awe-inspiring. It is art. That cannot be denied.
