When I say this is the coolest protest against fake news, it literally is. The temperature is actually at 0-degree celsius, that’s the temperature needed for water to turn ice.
We are talking about artists melting a ton of ice spelling out the word “truth” in the shadow of the US Capitol on Saturday. This was done as a kind of poetic protest at the pathetic state of politics in the era of “fake news” under President Donald Trump.
“Truth Be Told,” measuring 10 feet wide by seven feet tall, is the sixth sculpture in the “Melted Away” series launched in 2006 by artist duo LigoranoReese. Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano, both 62 years old, have collaborated on art projects for nearly four decades, including woven fibre optic mesh, video and new media in clocks, mirrors and books.
They have carved similar sculptures out of ice written “democracy,” “economy,” “middle class,” “the future” and “the American dream.”
As crowds gathered around the sculpture, Ligorano said “because ice is a material that disappears, it’s an urgent moment and truth is really melting,” “It’s speaking truth to power.” Soon the sculpture became a popular background for photographs. Of the five letters in ‘TRUTH’ it was the third letter T that collapsed first. Soon the first T also fell followed by the R. For long only the UH remained
The work and its hours-long melting process were streamed live online. On Friday, the artists organized a poetry reading with Washington-based poets and on Sunday will join a panel with journalists, watchdogs and other creatives focused on the “quest to uphold the truth.”
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