artistry

A few weeks after its creation, this painting of a man relaxing in the grass, believed to be one of the largest ever, will disappear forever.

Artist Saype said that his painting, entitled "What Makes a Great Man," is an attempt to reflect on the "relationship between human beings and nature."

The piece is 100% biodegradable, composed completely from materials Saype mixed himself.

The media used to complete the fresco include flour, linseed oil, water, and natural pigments.

Saype chose Leysin, Switzerland, for the site, where the giant painting would be dwarfed by the mountains surrounding it.

"The idea is to paint a huge man compared to the real size of a man but really small compared to the mountains, the world," he said.

Saype conceived the project three years ago, and it required weeks of backbreaking labor to compete.

Finishing the fresco required Saype to walk up and down the hill multiple times a day and paint very rapidly, often in an attempt to beat the rain.

At the end of each day, he filmed his progress with a drone to pick out mistakes and allow him to adjust if necessary.

As the grass grows and the rain falls, Saype's man will slowly warp, fade, and disintegrate.

According to Saype, the painting's temporary existence is central to its design.

"The fact that it is short-lived reflects the idea that all is impermanent, nothing in our life lasts forever," he said.

Saype hopes the painting will inspire discussion about humanity's responsibility toward its environment.

"I read ... some publications where scientists were saying that we are in a critical period where our generations are not aware about the disaster that they trigger on the ecosystem," he said. "In many years we will reach a non reversible point where it will be too late to get disengaged."

A 2014 United Nations panel concluded that drastic cuts to greenhouse emissions worldwide would be necessary to reverse, or slow, the effects of climate change. An agreement signed the following year commits the 197 signatories to hold global temperature rise under two degrees Celsius.

Saype explained that he began doing land art, in part, to make people question their role in shaping their surroundings.

"I am not a fervent ecologist," he said. "But it is a theme that I am interested in and I think that my generation must be more aware it."

What does he hope the painting will inspire in viewers' attitude toward nature?

"A touch of humility."