Mont Blanc? More like “Mont Rouge”!
Danish contemporary artist, Marco Evaristti, has a rather controversial idea in mind for his next “masterpiece” – he wants to paint Mont Blanc red! Evaristti has already gained international recognition for painting an iceberg in Greenland bright red, in protest at the US dumping of nuclear waste in the ocean. Environmentalists need not recoil in horror quite yet, as the “paint” he is intending to use does not contain any pollutants and is in fact, concentrated raspberry juice! He has already tested his bio-paint on the Vallee Blanche (near the col des Flambeaux) where he sculpted a life sized toilet in the snow and sprayed it red.
Although, Evaristti has developed a bit of a “peace and love” reputation for himself, he is perhaps better known for his provocative exhibition in Denmark, where he put goldfish in blenders and let the exhibition visitors decide whether to switch them on or not! For this next venture, the artist is footing the cost of the project himself which he estimates will equate to 3 years salary. Accompanied by around a dozen mountain guides, he initially requested to paint an area of 2500m2, but more realistically it will be in the region of 250m2.
Naturally he is coming up against considerable opposition as the Mont Blanc massif is a listed site of natural beauty. Jean-Marc Peillex, Mayor of St Gervais, has reiterated his slogan that you should not leave any trace of your presence in the mountains, whilst Michel Charlet, the Mayor of Chamonix, was a little blunter and has decreed the idea as “stupid”!
However, Evaristti was kindly taken up to the refuge Torino by police helicopter so he could check out the terrain. On his return 3 hours later, he could not understand some of the opposition he was up against and asked “Who is polluting the area more? Me with my bio-paint or all those who leave their **** (rather blunt word for excrement!) in the mountains?” Discussions continue.
