A Danish artist was given the equivalent of nearly $84,000 in Danish kroner and euro bank notes to use in a project. Instead, he instead submitted two empty canvases titled "Take the Money and Run."
Jens Haaning was provided the money by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark, to recreate two of his previous pieces from 2007 and 2010 that used bank notes. The museum paid him 25,000 kroner, or about $3,900 for the project, in addition to the money that was to be used in the pieces.
As reported by The Washington Post, Haaning told a Danish radio show that he realized the project would cost him 25,000 kroner alone.
"Why do I not make a work that is about my own work situation?" Haaning said about going in a different direction.
Lasse Andersson, the museum director, said the museum is still going to display the pieces Haaning submitted, but is calling for the artist to return the money from the project.
"I want to give Jens absolutely the right that a work has been created in its own right, which actually comments on the exhibition we have," Andersson told P1 Morgen. "But that is not the agreement we had."
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
For its exhibition on labor conditions and money, entitled "Work It Out" that opened Sept. 24, the museum commissioned him to recreate two of his earlier pieces, which featured bank notes attached to a canvas representing the average annual wage in Denmark and Austria.
"The artwork is that I have taken the money," Haaning told P1 Morgen, a radio show on the P1 channel that is part of Danish broadcaster DR this week. He declined to say where the money was.
Haaning, who is known as a provocateur, said the artwork represented his current work situation.
"I encourage others who have just as miserable working conditions as I to do the same," Haaning told P1. "If they are being asked to give money to go to work, then take the money and run."
The museum says Haaning has broken the agreement on how to use the money. However, it has not yet decided whether to report Haaning to the police if the money is not returned before the exhibition ends in January.
Haaning, however, denies having committed a crime and insists he did produce a work of art.
"It's not theft, it is a breach of contract, and the breach of contract is part of the work," Haaning told P1. He was not reachable for comment on Wednesday.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
