TelegraphUK: 91-year-old woman has been questioned by police in Germany — after she filled in the blanks in a piece of modern art based on a crossword puzzle.
The pensioner, who has not been named under German privacy law, was questioned under caution after she filled in the work valued at €80,000 (£67,000) with a biro.
“Reading-work-piece”, a 1977 work by Arthur Köpcke of the Fluxus movement, essentially looks like an empty crossword puzzle.
Next to the work is a sign which reads: “Insert words”.
The hapless pensioner explained to police that she was simply following the instructions. MORE
h/t Leonard.
If you have to be told something is “art” then it isn’t.
What she did was funny. Valuing crossword “art” that high is weird.
WAS THERE ROOM FOR “FU MOHAMED”??
Serves the artist right.
FTA…similar “mishaps”…
– “In June 2016, a boisterous child destroyed a £10,000 Lego statue within hours of it going on display, despite the prominent “no touching” sign.
– In 2015, cleaners at Museion museum in Italy cleaned up what they thought was a mess of cigarette butts and empty bottles that turned out to be one of its exhibits.
– In 2012, a 19th century Spanish fresco at the Santuario de Misericodia church in north eastern Spain(pictured) was ruined after a good Samaritan attempted a DIY restoration of the artwork.
– In 2006, a visitor to Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge tripped over his shoelaces and destroyed three 300-year-old Chinese Qing Dynasty vases”
@ Norman
I can’t stop giggling about the Chinese Dynasty vases. That is a great visual and I love most slapstick comedy.
Our cleaning lady at Hyde Park knocked over a small cremation urn containing Eleanor’s cousin’s stillborn child. She swept them up and threw them away in the trash.
Stimson and I smoked a box of cigars and replaced the ashes, but they weren’t even a close resemblance. 👿
She should send them a bill for the improvements.
File Under: Words matter or old habits are hard to break. She was just following orders.
The sign said: INSERT WORDS.
And she was confident enough to do the crossword puzzle in ink. LOL
Using the logic of the art world, the piece should now be worth twice as much.
🙂
Vietvet – that’s what I wuz just thinking!
Now it’s museum quality performance art!
The more worthless it is the more it is worth!
I heard Rush say once, “Words mean something”. It appears not everyone agrees. To much irony here for me…………………….
Tell her she has a real opportunity to restore the Ecce Homo church painting.
“Der sign said, ‘insert worden’! Ve are Germans! Ve follow orders!” [click heels] [salute]
“Nein, Oma. Please don’t salute like that any more.”
RE Einstein: And don’t forget the kid that left his glasses on the floor and within minutes had to art crowd admiring them and taking photographs.
I would have done the same thing.
I imagine the police had some cross words with her…
😇
And we had the little old lady who turned Jesus into a monkey. I think we need to ban old ladies from museums until we can figure out what’s going on.
What’s next, connect-the-dots in the impressionist wing?
That’s what they get for having stupid art.