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
On the high wire, within months, I'm able to master all the tricks they do in the circus, except I am not satisfied.
Many people use the words 'death defying' or 'death wishing' when they talk about wire-walking. Many people have asked me: 'So do you have a death wish?' After doing a beautiful walk, I feel like punching them in the nose. It's indecent. I have a life wish.
My journey has always been the balance between chaos and order.
My first walk illegally at 20 years old was between the towers of Notre Dame.
I have a fear of water, believe it or not. To put a wire 12 feet over a swimming pool frightens me. I don't like water.
I have been expelled from five different schools when I was a kid. And I learned basically all what I do by myself.
I hate all electronic things that are supposed to help the human being. You don't smell, you don't hear, you don't touch anymore.
I did a walk in 1973 illegally in the northern side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
When I was six years old, I fell in love with magic. For Christmas, I got a magic box and a very old book on card manipulation. Somehow, I was more interested in pure manipulation than in all the silly little tricks in the box.
There is a child inside me that wants to come out and do something to surprise all the adults.
Truly, from a very early age, I started distancing myself from other kids, not out of willingness, but just out of the nature of my energy. I liked to do things solely, and I already had a taste of the quest for perfection, which is unusual in a little kid.
Every year, I am conscious of the anniversary of my 1974 World Trade Center walk.
Faith is what replaces doubt in my dictionary.
It is treacherous on a high wire to change your focus point and suddenly look down.