Installation by Russian collective AES+F stolen from gallery
Installation by Russian collective AES+F stolen from gallery Theives make off with a massive, 100-kg banner hung on the Rotterdam art centre’s façade as it was being dismantled
A large banner by the Russian art collective AES+F was stolen last week when technicians at the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam removed the work from the building façade. Part of the piece, which was wrapped around the front and side of the venue, was taken from the pavement outside the centre.
Anne-Claire Schmitz, curatorial assistant on the project, told The Art Newspaper: “We took the banner down and only left it on the street for five minutes. It weighs over 100 kilograms which leads us to believe that this is an organised heist, possibly even some kind of artist performance.” The main front section of the mammoth piece, which measures 30 metres by 11 metres, was stolen while the side part (11 metres by 8 metres) is now in storage.
Schmitz added that the installation was uninsured because even though “AES+F’s intervention is a work of art, the banner itself has no value on the art market; it was indeed supposed to be destroyed after taking it down.” She also denied claims in the local press that the theft was a publicity stunt.
Evgeny Svyatsky of AES+F stated that he was “surprised” at the turn of events, adding that “it is difficult to imagine how [the robbers] will use the piece”. He concurred that the work has “no commercial value”.
The banner depicts a scene from the collective’s 2009 video installation, The Feast of Trimalchio which updates the story of the Roman plutocrat Trimalchio from Petronius’s novel Satyricon. The highly stylised work shows masters and servants indulging themselves to a pulsating classical soundtrack at a modern-day luxury hotel.
The AES+F installation formed part of the institution’s ten-month project focusing on “Morality”; a piece by German artist Isa Genzken was being hung on the façade when the banner was snatched.
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source : www.theartnewspaper.com
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Submited at Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 6:00 pm on Arts and Stage by ethan
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