A large number of Icelanders became rather upset when they heard that Chilean born/Copenhagen based artist Marco Evaristti, had poured red food colouring into Strokkur hot spring in the Geysir geothermal area, last Friday. Some decided to express their outrage and anger by leaving heated comments on the artist’s Facebook page; a number of people warned Evaristti not to return to the country, while one infuriated individual called the artist a donut.
Read more: Strokkur hot spring spouted red water this morning. Landowners not happy
Geysir’s owners claim that Evaristti entered the grounds without their knowledge and consent and reported the incident to local authorities. The Selfoss Police Department brought Evaristti in for interrogation following the incident and issued a hefty fine, claiming that the artist’s behaviour was reckless and dangerous. Evaristti says he has no intention of paying the fine and has now left the country.
Evarissti calls the performance piece at Geysir ‘Pink State’ and has created similar pieces in Greenland, Norway and Canada. “I’ve been arrested and accused of damaging nature every single time. All the fines issued were eventually revoked because I’ve been able to prove that the materials used to create the artwork are in no way harmful to nature,” the artist told Vísir.
Evarissti has responded to the outpour of negativity on his Facebook page, saying the he did not travel to Iceland with the intention to damage the landscape.
Read more: 5 Things to know about the Golden Circle
“Please rest assure that the dye I used was harmless fruit colour, and that Strokkur was back at its own normal self at 3 pm the same day, when the police visited. After having been interrogated yesterday the police gave me a fine for disturbing Strokkur but as I don't believe my harmless, temporary intervention has caused any disturbance to Geysir, I believe we will be discussing this in court,” he wrote.
A large number of Icelanders became rather upset when they heard that Chilean born/Copenhagen based artist Marco Evaristti, had poured red food colouring into Strokkur hot spring in the Geysir geothermal area, last Friday. Some decided to express their outrage and anger by leaving heated comments on the artist’s Facebook page; a number of people warned Evaristti not to return to the country, while one infuriated individual called the artist a donut.
Read more: Strokkur hot spring spouted red water this morning. Landowners not happy
Geysir’s owners claim that Evaristti entered the grounds without their knowledge and consent and reported the incident to local authorities. The Selfoss Police Department brought Evaristti in for interrogation following the incident and issued a hefty fine, claiming that the artist’s behaviour was reckless and dangerous. Evaristti says he has no intention of paying the fine and has now left the country.
Evarissti calls the performance piece at Geysir ‘Pink State’ and has created similar pieces in Greenland, Norway and Canada. “I’ve been arrested and accused of damaging nature every single time. All the fines issued were eventually revoked because I’ve been able to prove that the materials used to create the artwork are in no way harmful to nature,” the artist told Vísir.
Evarissti has responded to the outpour of negativity on his Facebook page, saying the he did not travel to Iceland with the intention to damage the landscape.
Read more: 5 Things to know about the Golden Circle
“Please rest assure that the dye I used was harmless fruit colour, and that Strokkur was back at its own normal self at 3 pm the same day, when the police visited. After having been interrogated yesterday the police gave me a fine for disturbing Strokkur but as I don't believe my harmless, temporary intervention has caused any disturbance to Geysir, I believe we will be discussing this in court,” he wrote.
