Today, June 13, is the birthday of artist Christo, born Christo Vladimirov Javacheff in 1935 in Bulgaria. It's also the birthday of his wife, also an artist, Jeanne-Claude, born Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon in Casablanca, Morocco. They are known for their huge joint-installations like "Running Fence" in 1976, which was a fabric fence running through Sonoma and Marin counties in California, or "The Gates," pieces of orange fabric hung through New York's Central Park. All of Christo's and Jeanne-Claude's installations are temporary. Although they take years to prepare, they are often only on display for a few weeks.

Another artist whose work's life span is dependent on the forces of nature rather than human intervention is Andy Goldsworthy, whose film Rivers and Tides is a visually stunning representation of the ephemeral nature of all things.