Théo Mercier - Les Collines de la Colère
I felt like my childhood dream had finally come true when I came across these sculptures Les Collines de la Colère (Hills of Anger) by Théo Mercier in Square du Temple here in Paris. I had at last found Fraggle Rock.
For any of you that have never seen Jim Henson’s (creator of The Muppets) magical world of the Fraggles, I can only feel sympathy for you. You have missed out on an essential part of your upbringing. But, I’m afraid there’s no second chance. It’s not the kind of thing you can make up for in later life. If you attempt to watch it as an adult you won’t understand it. It is so finely tuned into the child’s imagination that you wouldn’t have a clue what was going on.
Fraggle Rock was a crazy world full odd, brightly coloured creatures dancing around, telling stories and hiding from the ugly monsters outside. I was transported back to the Rock as soon as I set eyes on these heaps of turf.
Sadly, I was rudely awakened from my eighties nostalgia love-fest after reading the information accompanying the sculpture. I read that the sculptures are part of a WWF art trail aimed at highlighting the importance of biodiversity. Oh here we go again…I don’t know what it’s like where you are but Paris is becoming a bit of a biodiversity bore.
Don’t get me wrong it was great when buckets of money was spent turning the Champs-Elysées into a giant garden to remind people what plants look like, but now everything has to be ‘biodiversity this’ and ‘biodiversity that’. It’s not that I don’t like doing my bit for the environment, I try, but ‘biodiversity’ sounds well, just a bit dull doesn’t it?
On the website, it does give a bit more of an explanation, but you have to dig deep. It talks about the impact of the use of pesticides and the way species are being destroyed through deforestation. That’s a bit more interesting, now I get what the fuss is about, but what can we do? It all seems so distant, the kind of thing guys in grey suits and grey hair go to conferences in Brussels for.
How I can make an impact on biodiversity? I’ve only got two window boxes and they’re not very big. Even the plants I tried to grow in them died and now I’ve got a biodiversity rating of zero. It’s true we can do our bit by doing things like buying food that’s farmed more responsibly or locally but from what I can see this project doesn’t teach us a lot about this.
I remember the good old days when it was all about saving the planet. You were made to feel like a hero just for recycling a fizzy drink can or remembering to switch the lights off when you left a room. It was the best feeling, thinking that single-handedly you could actually make a difference.
These little mounds of earth made me smile for a while and I love the fact that this project has given up-and-coming artists like Théo Mercier the opportunity to show fun, engaging artwork in public spaces, but as for the rest of it, I’m Fraggled.
Judging from the title, these little hills are angry with us for messing up the planet. Well look, we’re sorry alright? But there’s no point in getting upset about it. Just tell us how to fix it!
"The Imaginary Historian"
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