The world’s smelliest piece of art was Self-portrait in Tofu, a sculpture by Dutch artist Kurzt Voegells.
Although relatively odour-free when it was first exhibited in May 2003, it soon
began to decompose, and caused the entire Anstschlogge gallery of Eindhoven to
be evacuated between the 4th and 7th of September that
year. After it was destroyed in a controlled explosion, Voegells announced,
©2012 James Mathurin
“I had not planned for this, but I feel it came to express the disgust I feel for society far more poetically than my food-sculpting abilities could possibly have expressed.”
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| Dutch police evacuate the area around the Anstschlogge gallery on June 15th 2003, immediately before Self-portrait in Tofu was destroyed. Riot police were required, as the horrible smell was deemed to be responsible for 17 separate scuffles and 2 small riots breaking out. Photograph by Karen Eliot. |
