By E. Graydon Carter

With a bullhorn as his paintbrush and the crystal-blue waters of Miami's Biscayne Bay his canvas, Christo, 47, was in Conceptual Artist Nirvana last week as he darted about by speedboat, yelling instructions to 400 helpers who had signed on for his latest production. His plan was to envelop eleven garbage-strewn islands between Miami and Miami Beach with some 6 million sq. ft. of pink polypropylene. Christo's $3.2 million "irresponsible, irrational, poetic gesture," as he calls it, is being financed largely by the sale of sketches, drawings and models of the work. As with earlier endeavors, such as draping a curtain between two Colorado mountain peaks, the obstacles were many. The man-made ones, like environmental protests, public hearings and government permits, were conquered. Nature, however, did not seem to share the artist's vision. As the project got under way, 15-knot winds and choppy waters slowed things up considerably. But the rougher the weather got, the more determined became the artist, finally finishing after three days. "It's exhilarating," Christo said to reporters. "You're confronted with the natural elements, human relations and communications. I told my workers they should have more imagination. If they have a problem, they should fantasize how to solve it. That's their creative contribution."

Where there's a benefit, there's always a way to rope in a celebrity between engagements. It's even easier when the event calls for the guest performers to do something a little different to parade their versatility. For Mary Tyler Moore, 45, all it took was a request for her to stretch those famous legs and hit the boards in a dance number--calling up talents that kept her in tooth polish long before the Mary Tyler Moore Show. And so, hat cocked and collar up, Moore will be joining a smart blue chorus line of New York's Finest later this month for a stage show to benefit Jacques d'Amboise's National Dance Institute. A veteran principal dancer of the New York City Ballet, D'Amboise, 48, has long been on an inner-city crusade to get children interested in ballet. He will use New York City police department dancers, six of them, to show smart alecks that dance isn't for sissies any more. That being so, there won't be much trouble picking Moore out of the police lineup.

Pouty sultriness seems to be in high demand these days, and Debra Winger, 27, has the pout that everyone touts. Through Urban Cowboy and An Officer and a Gentleman, her tousled curls and hazel eyes have made her a box-office wonder and an agent's dream. Next up are Mike's Murder, due out this fall, and Terms of Endearment, now filming in Nebraska, in which she plays the difficult daughter of Shirley MacLaine, 49. Early whispers report a battle offscreen as well as on between Winger and MacLaine. The onetime Irma la Douce used to toss off a mean moue herself. Could she be jealous of Winger's new gamine eminence? Or are all the ringside rumors coming from loose lips with nothing better to do?

--By E. Graydon Carter This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.