He became famous in 1974 for crossing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre and now the 74-year-old highwire artist Philippe Petit is planning a new feat in New York.
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Petit has announced he will walk along a rope strung high inside the Church of St John the Divine in Manhattan on February 1, where he has been the official "Artist in Residence" for some time.
Petit is to walk through an exhibition specially designed for the church, for which US artist Anne Patterson has hung more than 1100 colourful ribbons from the ceiling of the church. There will also be music.
Petit explained his decision to the New York Times: "The cathedral called me and said, 'We have a beautiful hanging sculpture - would you do something with it?'."
The French tightrope walker also dismissed questions about his age.
"The idea of retiring is foreign to me."
Among other daring feats, Petit has already walked a rope between the bridge towers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1973), across the Seine to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1971) and between St Paul's Church and the cathedral during the 1200th anniversary celebrations in Frankfurt in 1994 - always without safety ropes.
Australian Associated Press
