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Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

bbc.com

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Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#21

Post by devmor »

mg wrote: post #8

This reminds me of a common theme in the art world. I wonder if there is a name for it. Maybe "Low effort art"? Examples off the top of my head: John Cage "composed" a song consisting of just silence. Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal which he simply purchased from a store. Yves Klein exhibited 11 paintings that were exactly the same. They were simply blue, no structures or subject. But he priced them all differently…

John Cage’s orchestral piece is actually really interesting. Last time I heard it, I was told to treat the ambient sound in the theater as the experience and it was a very interesting thing to do. Hearing people cough, shuffle around, etc. and trying to visualize where each sound came from. I recommend it at least once!

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#23

Post by erehweb »

mg wrote: post #8

This reminds me of a common theme in the art world. I wonder if there is a name for it. Maybe "Low effort art"? Examples off the top of my head: John Cage "composed" a song consisting of just silence. Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal which he simply purchased from a store. Yves Klein exhibited 11 paintings that were exactly the same. They were simply blue, no structures or subject. But he priced them all differently…

Maybe "conceptual art" https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/conceptual-art - this link from the Tate includes Klein and Duchmap.

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#24

Post by hnbad »

jl6 wrote: post #9
ryanmcdonough wrote: post #6

Museum director Lasse Andersson said that he had laughed out loud when he first saw the two blank canvasses in 2021, and decided to show the works anyway. "He stirred up my curatorial staff and he also stirred me up a bit, but I also had a laugh because it was really humoristic," the museum's director, Lasse Andersson So the museum director was happy, curators were interested and they were on display - feels like the…

"The work is that I have taken their money." I guess this artwork works in both directions.

I think the argument of whether he delivered art is a red herring. They commissioned a specific piece of art and he failed to deliver on that. Arguably he did deliver a work of performance art but apparently the contract was fairly specific so it's reasonable that they expect to have the money returned after deducting his expenses.

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#25

Post by hnbad »

dizhn wrote: post #17
kawhah wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The museum lent the artist money as well as paying him to produce the works. Accepting the art submitted does not invalidate the artist's requirement to repay the loan.

The"artist" seems like the kind of guy who would easily say the quality of "the material (cash) they gave me wasn't good so I used something else instead. So we're even." He's quoted as saying the musemum gained a lot more in publicity without mentioning the publicity he himself got while stealing the museum's money.

It's certainly something to hear an artist say that the value they provided in an exchange was exposure. Usually this goes the other way around.

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#26

Post by theragra »

I think museum is not right. Yes, de jure, artist is wrong. But this is kind of funny and people enjoyed this, and this is not so much money for a big museum. Europe is famous for tolerating art stuff, even if it is shocking or dumb or weird, and I like this tradition.

It would be awful for Europe as a whole to become beaurocratic and dull, because eu commission and parliament already are boring enough

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#27

Post by coldtea »

fodkodrasz wrote: post #18
mg wrote: post #8

This reminds me of a common theme in the art world. I wonder if there is a name for it. Maybe "Low effort art"? Examples off the top of my head: John Cage "composed" a song consisting of just silence. Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal which he simply purchased from a store. Yves Klein exhibited 11 paintings that were exactly the same. They were simply blue, no structures or subject. But he priced them all differently…

Classic postmodern. Shows the lack of something. Usually the lack of originality and the lack of any value.

For lack of originality, those examples are all very original.

For lack of artistic value, are all highly regarded by critics and art audiences.

For lack of mometary value, they've been sold for very expensive prices...

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#29

Post by fodkodrasz »

coldtea wrote: post #27
fodkodrasz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classic postmodern. Shows the lack of something. Usually the lack of originality and the lack of any value.

For lack of originality, those examples are all very original. For lack of artistic value, are all highly regarded by critics and art audiences. For lack of mometary value, they've been sold for very expensive prices...

You have a different definition of original than me, it seems.

Critics and art audiences: totally no "opinion monopoly" or manufactured consent at play, right?

Monetary value? You mean money laundering?

Re: Danish artist told to repay museum €67,000 after turning in blank canvasses

#30

Post by exitb »

kryptiskt wrote: post #7
ryanmcdonough wrote: post #6

Museum director Lasse Andersson said that he had laughed out loud when he first saw the two blank canvasses in 2021, and decided to show the works anyway. "He stirred up my curatorial staff and he also stirred me up a bit, but I also had a laugh because it was really humoristic," the museum's director, Lasse Andersson So the museum director was happy, curators were interested and they were on display - feels like the…

He got to keep his fee, what he didn't get to keep was the cash that he was lent that was supposed to be part of the installation.

But it makes the art worse if the money's returned. It's JUST an empty canvas then, not even worth keeping on the wall.
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