More waste

But this time on a rather grander scale than wasteful deployment of grub at TB, the subject of the last post. It seems that the French authorities think it a good idea to spend £12m on wrapping up the Arc de Triomphe, which strikes me as rather a lot to spend on a stunt at a time when we should be persuading people to do less, not more. A stunt more or less without artistic merit. But there are two good things about it. First, it hides away a rather gross symbol of Napoleonic triumphalism. Perhaps, while they are at it, they should rename all those boulevards which make a sort of inner ring road around Paris, presently named for all his marauding Marshalls, with something more peaceable. Second, contrariwise, it is temporary.

However, on taking a look at reference 1, I find that this project is self financing. The necessary money is being raised by sale of artistic & architectural memorabilia, which puts a slightly different light on the matter. Perhaps we should see it as a job creation scheme for resting scaffolders, who might otherwise get up to something worse. And we are assured that all the plastic and rope involved is recyclable, thus reducing the stunt's carbon footprint.

Reference 1: http://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude. It seems they were a husband and wife team. And for stunt artists, Wikipedia makes them sound like quite decent people. Certainly a more attractive proposition than our own Gormley's and Hirst's.