Part of Ei Arakawa’s sculpture on show at Sculpture Projects Münster (until 1 October), the German sculpture festival held every ten years, has been stolen. The New York-based Japanese artist’s work—Harsh Citation, Harsh Pastoral, Harsh Münster—is on display in a field in front of Haus Kamp, which houses part of the city’s Chamber of Crafts.
According to the Sculpture Projects Münster website: “[Arakawa] has personally grouped seven pixelated LED panels he assembled himself on the grassy space… these illuminated pictures accompanied by sound are arranged like an audio-visual choir in the landscape.” The panels depict animated versions of paintings by artists such as Joan Mitchell and Gustave Courbet.
A statement posted on the exhibition Facebook page says that one of the seven LED panels was stolen on 17 June. “The artist is working on the replacement, and it might take until the beginning of July. Six other LED panels and all seven sound components are working normally, so please visit,” the organisers say.
New York-based Arakawa told Artnews that the replacement work will be on a black PVC sheet instead of on hand-dyed fabric. “This is in part because it will take less time to replace, but also because I want this incident of the public work being stolen to be visible to future visitors,” he said.
