David Cerny's Entropa

I'm sure most of you have heard about the artwork that was to be unveiled at the EU Council building in Europe today. For those who haven't here's the gist of it (links with more detailed info in the text).

It's the Czech Republic's turn to take over the EU presidency this year. To commemorate this occasion they decided to commission a work of art that would represent all 27 of the EU member nations. The project was to be guided by David Cerny, the Czech artist who's claims to fame include painting a Russian tank pink and submerging Saddam Hussein in a tank of formaldehyde ( http://www.artnewsblog.com/2007/06/david-cernys-saddam-hussein.htm ). Cerny produced a list of 27 artists, one from each member nation, showing how each one intended to depict their country in the piece to be titled "Entropa". ( http://www.eu2009.cz/scripts/file.php?id=8282&down=yes ) Get it while it's still there.

The work has now been mounted in its intended location. It consists of a large framework, like the frames that you snap pieces of a model out of, containing the proposed depictions of each country. However, it appears that all paperwork was passed through without anyone actually reading any of it. For instance, Bulgaria appears as a collection of Turkish toilets. Keep in mind that this work is huge and it's already been mounted. It turns out that Cerny faked all of the documents and names of artists to be involved. The whole thing was created by him and a couple of friends.

Let's see what they do next. Among other things, the official text announcing the unveiling of "Entropa" contains this little tidbit, "…we gave the 27 artists the same opportunity to express themselves freely, as a proof that in today´s Europe there is no place for censorship…"

The official announcement is available at http://www.eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/news/entropa:-stereotypes-are-barriers-to-be-demolished-5634/