Philippe Petit
Philippe Petit
Philippe Petitis a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, on the morning of August 7, 1974. For his unauthorized feat1,350 feetabove the ground, he rigged a 450-poundcable and used a custom-made 26-footlong, 55-poundbalancing pole. He performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes along the wire. The following week, he celebrated his 25th birthday. All charges were dismissed in exchange for him doing a...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPerformance Artist
Date of Birth13 August 1949
CityNemours, France
CountryFrance
If I see three oranges, I have to juggle. And if I see two towers, I have to walk.
If I had been born in the circus, my parents would have pushed me on that little high wire at four years old. That's when the body is most limber to learn those acrobatics.
It's part of my life to feel like a criminal, to have eyes in my back and see if I'm being followed. It's a feeling that comes from street juggling because I have been arrested so many times.
It is treacherous on a high wire to change your focus point and suddenly look down.
Talking about theater, actually, I built a little barn in upstate New York, and I call it 'the smallest theater in the world,' but it has a mini stage and a red velvet curtain.
On a very long and very high wire, I will not hope to not be blown off by high winds. I will have the certitude that such could not happen.
It is very normal for people on the ground to look at somebody apparently walking in midair and thinking first that person is crazy and thinking secondly that person risks his or her life.
It's always easy to describe something complex by applying to it an already known label.
I walk on the wire; it's my profession, and there are no two high wire walks alike.
I've frowned at the idea of breaking records, the first one to do something, or do it longer, higher, more difficult.
It's very normal - when you're not used to the world of the high wire, it's very normal to be simply terrified. The reason I'm not is because I've done it for so many years.
Art is maybe a subversive activity. There is a certain rebellion when you are an artist at heart, even if only in the art of living.
When I perform outside, the major problem that could arise is strong wind.I spend months preparing for the types of wind that occur in different locations.
I was not born into the world of the stuntman and the daredevil; I was born into the world of theater and writing and sculpting and classical music.