The artist Andy Goldsworthy has released 13 giant snowballs on the streets of the City of London.
The 6-7 foot snowballs will be left to melt and public reactions recorded via webcam's for broadcast on this site and at www.eyestorm.com.
The snowballs were made from Scottish snow last winter and transferred from cold storage down to London on midsummmer's eve. Asked how he thought people would react Andy Goldsworthy said:
"I don't know what will happen. Some people will get quite angry. And some will probably have snowball fights. And some will think its wonderful."
Peter Melchett, Greenpeace Executive Director, speaking from the site of one of the snowballs, said :
"I've always been a fan of Goldsworthy and I think the snowballs really are wonderful. They make an astonishingly powerful piece of work. Climate change means that snow is already a rare thing in London. In future whole generations of London children may grow up without knowing what snow is."
Greenpeace is a beneficiary of the project and will receive a 10% donation from the sales of Andy Goldsworthy's photographic images sold via their website, linked to www.eyestorm.com.
Peter Melchett added,
"By chance, one of Andy's snowballs is outside BP's HQ. Oil companies play a direct role in the meltdown that is already affecting the arctic ice cap, and the Scottish mountains from where this snow came."
