ART

Environmental artist Christo, the Bulgarian-born wrapper of islands, bridges and other huge natural and man-made objects, said in Tokyo on Tuesday that he will spend $8 million to cover land in Japan and California with 1,500 huge umbrellas. The project, which he hopes to display in 1990, will feature the 18-feet-high-and-24-feet-in-diameter umbrellas on each side of the Pacific. They will stand for three weeks before being dismantled, he said. In California, yellow umbrellas will stretch 16 miles between the inland towns of Gorman and Wheeler Ridge, 60 miles north of Los Angeles, Christo told an audience at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Christo will pay for the project through sales of his plans and drawings.