500,000 Colorful Balls Released on the Spanish Steps

On January 16th, artist Graziano Cecchini released 500,000 colorful plastic balls down the Spanish Steps as an artistic commentary on the social problems of Italy. The Italian word for ball is palle, which is also a word for "untruth." Cecchini was detained by Roman authorities shortly after the release of the balls. Cecchini is famous for dyeing the water in the Trevi Fountain red in October of 2007 as a protest for the poor treatment of artists in Italy. Is Cecchini's work art or vandalism?

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