Thursday, May 26, 2011

Colorado Wildlife Commission opposes artist Christo's "Over the River" project

Matt’s Rant: There is art and then there is absurd. Who the @#$%^ does this Christo guy think he is? No natural landmark or destination is sacred to Mr. Christo and his "art". This project has some serious financial backing from the east coast and others making it difficult to stifle. Hopefully the latest non-support vote from the Colorado Wildlife Commission will kill this endeavor once and for all. The audacity of some humans. We don’t deserve a planet as awesome as this if we are just going to @#$% it all up.

(Above: Here is Christo going over the project with the one person that really enjoys his work. Maybe I just don’t have enough of culture.”)

SALIDA — The Colorado Wildlife Commission has seen enough. As far as the nine voting members of the commission are concerned, it's hasta la vista for "Over the River."

With a bold, decisive stroke of the pen, the Wildlife Commission, which is charged with protecting, preserving and enhancing the wildlife and wildlife habitat in Colorado, stands unanimously opposed to the controversial landscape art project known as "Over the River" proposed by Bulgarian-born artist Christo.
After listening to measures proposed to minimize impacts to wildlife that were created by the grandiose art project, the governor-appointed commission drafted a letter to Colorado's Bureau of Land Management director stating that it "opposes the Over the River project and any approval or permitting of the project by the BLM or any other jurisdiction."

"This is an inappropriate action that we cannot support," commissioner Dorothea Farris said before initiating the decree at the commission's monthly workshop in Salida last Thursday. "We have a responsibility to protect the wildlife."

Link to full article below:

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_18036816?source=rss

Good luck and good fishing.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Midgeman recently posted about this as well. Much the same as I said there, but worth saying again. Nature makes her own art - and it is better than any artist can create with his brush, oils, watercolors or in this case fabric. I support the arts, but I refuse to support them where they don't belong, and that is over the Arkansas River. This is an absolutley ludricous idea for Colorado to even consider. If he wants to display his work, take it to the East Coast to some downtrodden city that needs a bit of beauty.

cofisher said...

Beings as I consider the Ark my home water, I couldn't agree more. The thought of not only what traffic and construction would be like, we really don't know how much of this activity would affect the insect and fish lives, not to mention other wildlife. I know that a lot of people from that area are thinking dollars lost if this doesn't happen, but they're forgetting the possible damage done and could take years to restore. Thanks Matt for the rant. Now you got me going again.

Troutdawg said...

Didn't see this thing happening at all, nice exhibit though if you get a chance to see it!

Coloradocasters said...

I wonder how Christo would feel if a few bighorn sheep and maybe an elk or two decided to do some “art” on this guy’s Bentley (or whatever he drives). The rams could pummel one side while the elk punches a few “air holes” on the other side.

“It’s art, man!!! Too bad we didn’t consider who or what would be affected.”

Humans that think they know better than anyone else or view this planet as their personal tapestry is a major reason why we are in this environmental mess. Hopefully Mr. Christo receives some heated discussion every inch of the way.