“I won’t pay him back,” he said

A Danish artist seized 538,000 Danish crowns (approximately $ 85,000) from a museum and described the move as a conceptual work with the title Take the Money and Run.

The Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg asked Jens Haaning to recreate two works: one he produced in 2011 titled An Average Danish Annual Income, which featured koruna banknotes in a frame, and an earlier version. , An Average Austrian Annual Income.

Both were to be showcased at a work-life exhibition called Work It Out, which opened on September 24. For his previous performances, Haaning had borrowed the money from a bank. This time around, the museum has agreed to lend him the money from his limited reserves, explains Lasse Andersson, director of the Kunsten Museum. The average Danish annual income was around 328,000 crowns, while the average Austrian salary was around 25,000 €.

But when the works were delivered to the museum the day before the exhibition opened, “there were empty frames,” says Andersson. “Haaning sent us an email saying he thought it was more interesting to do a new job, and his name was Take the money and run. “

Andersson says he has no plans to go to the police yet. The museum’s contract with Haaning requires him to repay the money by Jan. 14, 2022. “We are not a wealthy museum,” he said, adding that the money was funds set aside for the upkeep of the museum. building. “We really hope the money will come back.”

But Haaning, who exhibited at Documenta in 2002, says he has no plans to reimburse the money.

“Of course, I won’t pay him back,” he said. “The job is, I took the money and I won’t return it.”

The museum hung the empty frames in the spot designated for Haaning’s work in the exhibit, alongside his email explaining the new conceptual work. “It’s more or less a performance job,” says Andersson.

Haaning says the work is unlikely to become a series.

“If someone has too much money, they might want to give it away,” he laughs. “I am open to invitations.