Artist Marco Evaristti was given consent by American inmate Gene Hathorn to feed his body to goldfish for the sake of art. Hathorn was found guilty of murdering his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in 1985 and has been on death row in Texas ever since his conviction in that same year.
Evaristti, on the other hand, has been making waves in the Danish art scene since 2000, when his exhibition “Helena” featured him placing goldfish in ten electric blenders and then inviting visitors to the Trapholt Art Museum to turn them on.
Evaristti solicited Hathorn to be a part of his ongoing goal to create art that speaks out against capital punishment. If his final appeal fails and Hathorn is executed, Evaristti hopes to deep freeze his carcass and then make Tetramin out of it. Those voyeurs and art enthusiasts who visit the exhibit will be invited to feed the fish with the convict corpse fish food.
There is some doubt as to whether or not this will all come to pass, as lawyers in this country have already begun to wonder the validity of a convict’s statement donating his body to an artist for the purpose of an art exhibit that speaks out against the very system that created it.
You can view more of Mario Evaristti’s art, including his previous exhibition, “Helena — The Goldfish blender,” here.
