Artist David Černý says he himself is curious what will happen next. He surprised Europe with a work of art that proved to be a big hoax. The provocative sculpture that was installed at the European Council headquarters was presented as the joint effort of 27 European artists. The day after its installation, it became apparent that the harsh caricatures of EU countries were created by David Černý and several of his friends.
After the revelation, David Černý released a press statement in which he apologised to the Czech government. In an interview with the online daily Týden.cz, the artist gives us his take on the recent developments surrounding the controversial sculpture.
Are you flying to Brussels tomorrow [Thursday] to unveil your sculpture?
I will have to.
What do you think you can expect?
I’m curious myself.
What will happen? You will remove the drape, drink champagne?
No, I’ll plug the cord into an electrical socket. I really don’t know what will happen.
Will Saša Vondra [Czech deputy prime minister] be there?
I think so.
Is Saša Vondra talking to you? Has he called you since you told him that situation is “different from what he thought it was for the last year and half”?
We haven’t talked since then.
Do you think you’ll be on speaking terms again?
I hope so, of course. I like him. I have nothing against him. He might have something against me now, though. I hope that when he calms down, he will look at it differently and understand that it’s not so bad.
So right now he doesn’t understand it?
He’s more in shock, for now.
Who else is in shock? Has Prime Minister Topolánek said anything about it?
I havn’t noticed.
How many people knew that the 26 European artists actually don’t exist, that it’s all your work?
Maybe about ten. And it’s not just my work. It incorporates the ideas of those ten people.
Ten people is quite a lot. How come this information didn’t leak sooner?
I don’t know. I myself am surprised. I thought someone would figure it out. I made fun of it few times, and I thought someone would notice.
I assume that you signed some sort of a contract. Was there a clause there saying it was to be a collective effort?
The contract says that I am the author of the project.
Are you sure?
Yes, I can read it right here: “So that the sculpture wouldn’t be the work of one author but a collective work of EU countries, the author will ask an artist in each country to give him a proposal… But that’s an addition to the contract. It’s not part of the assignment.
And did you approach these artists?
We tried, but it soon became evident that it wouldn’t work.
For how long did you try?
For about a week.
So then you decided on a smaller concept. Was that just an idea you suddenly had?
It was less than a sudden idea. It was the logical way to go.
The Bulgarian government doesn’t like the sculpture. Do you think someone might want to remove the sculpture tomorrow [Thursday]?
Not tomorrow. Definitely not.
And later?
The Bulgarians apparently want to remove Bulgaria.
Were you ever in Bulgaria?
As a child.
Would you agree with removing the Bulgarian part?
What else can I do?
