Graziano Cecchini is my kind of funster! He had a BALL at the Spanish Steps in Rome this week, ha ha ha. I’ve also included photos of when he dyed the Trevi Fountain Red in October 2007. Oh I wonder what sort of similar mischief YOU’d do in your town? Mr Cecchini is in the top photo.
Spanish Steps covered in balls by Italian artist
www.telegraph.co.uk | By Malcolm Moore in Rome | Last Updated: 17/01/2008
Five hundred thousand brightly coloured plastic balls bounced down the Spanish Steps in Rome in a stunt by an anarchic artist.
Graziano Cecchini, said each of the plastic balls “represented a lie told by a politician”.
The clean-up begins after the stunt by artist Graziano Cecchini
He claimed it had cost him around £15,000 to turn the Spanish Steps into a scene from a children’s playground.
Delighted tourists grabbed the balls as mementoes as they collected at the base of the steps, in the Fountain of the Old Boat by Pietro Bernini.
As Mr Cecchini walked down the steps, with balls bouncing around him, he added: “I am leaving for Burma, these balls will help the Karen people.”
The Karen, an ethnic minority descended from Tibetan refugees, have fought for an independent state since 1949 and accuse the military junta of ethnic cleansing.
Police were called to the incident after 500 balls were dropped on the Spanish Steps.
Last October, Mr Cecchini gained notoriety after colouring the Trevi Fountain with blood red dye.
At the time he said he wanted to highlight the plight of penniless artists in Italy.
Jean Leonard Touadi, the city’s head of security, said: “This behaviour is unacceptable. To err is human, but to persevere is diabolical. Trying to get publicity at the city’s cost is not funny.”
The police closed off the Piazza Spagna so the area could be cleaned.
Mr Cecchini is likely to be fined for his action.
Last June, a 24-year-old Colombian man attempted to drive his Toyota Celica down the steps at high speed, chipping some of the marble.
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