Melting Ice, a group of Finnish environmental activists, is currently trying to raise €400,000 ($474,000) for its project to create a 35-meter-high statue of US President Donald Trump on an iceberg. With its aptly-named Project Trumpmore, a nod to the iconic Mount Rushmore with US presidents' faces, the group hopes to stress the significance of climate change.
"We do not just want to build a monument, but we want this project to be bigger and highlight climate change in a broader perspective, to encourage people to talk more about climate change," Melting Ice chairman Nicolas Prieto told Finnish national broadcaster Yle.
US President Donald Trump was chosen for the idea of the vanishing monument to be consumed by rising heat because he repeatedly denied the notion that global warming is man-made and called the Paris Climate Agreement a "Chinese conspiracy."
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 6 ноября 2012 г.
It's freezing outside, where the hell is "global warming"??
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 25 мая 2013 г.
We are experiencing the coldest weather in more than two decades-most people never remember anything like this. GLOBAL WARMING anyone?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 6 января 2014 г.
So far, no site has been designated for the "Trumpmore," but Greenland and Iceland are seen as possible alternatives, according to Prieto. Several ice sculptors, including Finnish ice artist Anssi Kuosa, are expected to contribute to the project. Due to the complexity of the task, a plethora of tools, including chainsaws and lifting devices will have to be used in the process.
Melting Ice also plans to create a documentary of its exploits and launch a media campaign to address the importance of climate change issues. If the group succeeds in its project, a streaming camera will be installed to document the process of the artwork's symbolic decomposition.
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the historic forerunner to the would-be "Trumpmore," is a monument composed of 18 meter high portraits of four US presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt) carved into a mountain in South Dakota. Mount Rushmore has become an iconic symbol of the United States and has appeared in numerous works of fiction. It also attracts over two million visitors annually.
Little evening jaunt to the National park system. #mountrushmore #dontfeedthewildlife #50flags #presidential #hardasstone #twilight pic.twitter.com/dI3FNv5uze
— Jason (@jasonashley83) 9 мая 2018 г.
Some of the most ardent Trump supporters have argued that he deserves a spot on Mount Rushmore as well.
Not only does #PresidentTrump deserve the #NoblePeacePrize but he deserves to be on #MountRushmore It's raining #Snowflakes I love it when they lose their minds.
— I am Deplorable 🇺🇸 (@sweettuscany) 10 мая 2018 г.
