Danish artist submits empty frames as artwork, court orders him to repay museum
Danish artist
In what comes as a bizarre incident, a Danish artist who received large sums of money from a museum and submitted empty frames as artwork has been ordered by a court to repay the funds.
The accused Jens Haaning was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, northern Denmark, in 2021 to recreate two earlier works that used scores of banknotes to represent average incomes. The museum went to Haaning as his work focused on power and equality as a conceptual artist.
He was provided approximately 532,000 kroner ($49,257)by the museum from its reserves to recreate his previous artworks. Notably, in 2007, one of Hanning's works, named "An Average Danish Annual Income", displayed kroner notes fixed to canvas in a frame, and a second 2011 work about Austrian incomes used euro bills.
Despite being provided the money,Haaningturned in two empty canvasses titled "Take the Money and Run", and called it a day. At the time, Museum director Lasse Andersson looked at the funny side of things and decided to show the works anyway.
Andersson said the canvasses had a "humoristic approach" and were "a reflection on how we value work". However, he added the museum would take Haaning to court if he didn't pay back the money, which he refused to do.
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Consequently, a Copenhagen court on Monday (September 18), ordered58-year-old Haaning to refund the museum 492,549 kroner ($45,605), after a long-drawn legal battle.
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Haaning justifies his art
In an interview with Danishbroadcaster dr.dk, Haaning justified his art saying: "The work is that I have taken their money."
He added that the blank canvasses reflected his work situation:"Why don't I make a work that is about my own work situation? And I encourage other people who have just as miserable working conditions as me to do the same."
"If they sit in some cr*p job and don't get paid and are actually asked to give money to go to work, take off the cash and run away. It is a general call."
According to Haaning, the museum had made "much, much more" money than what it invested, thanks to the publicity surrounding the affair.
(With inputs from agencies)
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