Chilean Artist Plans Makeover For Mt. Blanc

Last year, Chilean-born artist Marco Evaristti mixed fat removed from his body by liposuction with ground beef to make meatballs, which he fried in olive oil and displayed in a public gallery.

This year, he plans to climb Western Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border, colour the summit pink and declare it an independent state, with himself as president.

His work has been slammed as disgusting, publicity-seeking and immoral but Evaristti says he is simply trying to highlight some of the double standards he sees in the world around him. "What I'm trying to do with these works is to give society a jolt and make it ask questions," the 44-year-old said in a telephone interview from Denmark.

In perhaps his most infamous work, Evaristti filled food blenders with water, dropped live goldfish into them and invited museum goers to create their own fish soup by turning on the blenders. He also painted an iceberg in Greenland red and placed an embalmed human corpse in the front seat of a Ferrari, all in the name of art and introspection.

Undeterred by warnings from French authorities, he also refuses to disclose how he will color the top of Mont Blanc. "[French officials] haven't given me permission, they say I'm mad," he said. His next event after that will be staged either in the Sahara or Chile's Atacama Desert later this year, although he would provide no details.