Tuesday, February 27, 2007

"'We were afraid of something like this"

The New York Times has this report this morning (second item):

"The collage 'Relative Value,' by the Norwegian artist Jan Christensen, was simply irresistible — to thieves, that is. The 7-by-13-foot canvas displayed at the MGM Galleri in Oslo was covered with $16,300 worth of genuine currency from the artist’s own pocket, The Associated Press reported. Unsurprisingly, it attracted the attention of the national news media and the thieves. The thieves smashed a window in the gallery late on Sunday and made off with the canvas and its pasted-on bills. 'We were afraid of something like this,' Mr. Christensen told the Norwegian news agency NTB. 'The picture was insured and the gallery equipped with an alarm.' He said 'Relative Value' had been sold to Norwegian collectors, and the exhibition was scheduled to end yesterday. He added that he had not decided if he would make a new version."

Derek Fincham says "I'm not sure you could technically classify this as an art theft as the thieves were not stealing the art, they were stealing the [currency]."

You can see photos of the work here. Christensen has his own website here.