Published: 19 Sep 2023 22:00 GMT
Jens Haaning says he is shocked by the sentence and that he does not have the sum he owes.
In 2021, Jens Haaning received $76,400 from the Kunsten Museum of Contemporary Art in Aalborg, Denmark, to reproduce one of his previous works which consisted of two glass frames filled with banknotes (Danish krone and euros) reflecting the annual income in Denmark and Austria, respectively. However, the artist changed his mind and decided to send the empty frames to the museum, calling the creation a “work of art.”
Haaning named his new job ‘Take the money and run’ and kept the sum that the museum had lent him. However, this Monday a Copenhagen court ruled that he had to return much of the money, reported local media.
At the same time, the Court ruled that Haaning should keep 40,000 Danish crowns (about $5,700) in fees and viewing rights, since the museum presented the empty frames in an exhibition.
In this context, the Danish conceptual artist filed a countersuit in which he demanded payment of 550,000 crowns ($79,000) for copyright infringement of the work. He argues that the museum allowed the illegal redistribution of photographs of his work after the media began writing about it. In this regard, the court continues without considering that such action is a violation.
In dialogue with local radio station DR, Haaning assured that he was shocked by the sentence, but at the same time, he imagined that this would happen. Furthermore, he confesses that he does not have enough money to compensate the museum, and that he will evaluate with his lawyer the chances of winning an appeal. “It’s been good for my job, but it also puts me in an unmanageable situation where I don’t really know what to do,” he said.
2023-09-20 01:36:28
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