In Switzerland, an Artist Uses Mountain Slopes as His Canvas

Swiss- French artist SAYPE poses next to his land art painting representing a pet bottle left on the grass as littering in the Parc Bourget in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Swiss- French artist SAYPE poses next to his land art painting representing a pet bottle left on the grass as littering in the Parc Bourget in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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In Switzerland, an Artist Uses Mountain Slopes as His Canvas

Swiss- French artist SAYPE poses next to his land art painting representing a pet bottle left on the grass as littering in the Parc Bourget in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Swiss- French artist SAYPE poses next to his land art painting representing a pet bottle left on the grass as littering in the Parc Bourget in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

On mountain slopes in the Swiss village of Villars-sur-Ollon, an artist has used chalk and charcoal to paint two giant frescos of children sketching how they see the vast world around them.The frescos, which are painted directly on the grass and can last days depending on weather conditions, show a young boy and girl tracing squiggly lines on sketch pads to depict mountains, trees, stars and the moon, Reuters said.Swiss-French artist SAYPE said his frescos -- which at around 3,000 square meters (3,590 square yards) can be seen from the mountaintop and nearby pastures -- symbolize the need to reject uniformity and embrace different perspectives."The children are on different altitudes, so they are drawing different things," SAYPE said. "Even if they are at different altitudes, the two worlds they are drawing complement each other."SAYPE is mostly known for his "Beyond Walls" series in which he has spray painted giant hands clasping each other on the ground in different cities around the world, including Berlin, Paris, Istanbul and Cape Town.



Mother of Cinematographer Killed on Set of Alec Baldwin Film ‘Rust’ Boycotts Its World Premiere

 US actor Alec Baldwin arrives for the New York premiere of Netflix's animated film "Spellbound," on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Alec Baldwin arrives for the New York premiere of Netflix's animated film "Spellbound," on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Mother of Cinematographer Killed on Set of Alec Baldwin Film ‘Rust’ Boycotts Its World Premiere

 US actor Alec Baldwin arrives for the New York premiere of Netflix's animated film "Spellbound," on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Alec Baldwin arrives for the New York premiere of Netflix's animated film "Spellbound," on November 11, 2024. (AFP)

The mother of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is boycotting the world premiere of “Rust” at a film festival in Poland on Wednesday, saying she views it as an attempt by Alec Baldwin to “unjustly profit” from her daughter’s death.

The Western is premiering at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage in the city of Torun three years after Hutchins was shot accidentally on set.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

Souza was expected to introduce the film at the festival, a popular industry event dedicated to the art of cinematography, and the premiere was being dedicated to Hutchins.

“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen," said Hutchins’ mother Olga Solovey in a statement issued by her lawyer and carried by Britain’s national news agency, PA.

“Unfortunately, that was ripped away from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter," she said. “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death. Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter.”

“That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of Rust, especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter," she added.

Hutchins, 42, was a Ukrainian cinematographer on the rise and a mother of a young son when she was killed. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising movie-making career.

A New Mexico judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in the fatal shooting. But while the threat of criminal liability was lifted, he is facing other civil lawsuits, including one by Solovey.

The film armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, received the maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter. A New Mexico judge found earlier this year that her recklessness amounted to a serious violent offense. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun-safety protocols.

This year's CameraImage festival has already been beset by controversy.

“Blitz” director Steve McQueen dropped out of the festival to protest an editorial about female cinematographers written by festival founder Marek Żydowicz which McQueen viewed as sexist. Żydowicz has since apologized.