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rfmcdonaldThórarinn Ingi Jónsson, an Icelandic student at Toronto's Ontario College of Art and Design, has recently managed to get himself into quite a bit of trouble thanks to an "art project" that went horribly wrong, as Iceland Review explains.
In an interview with Torontoist, Jónsson further explained his actions.
Unfortunately for him, quite apart from forcing the cancellation of a CanFAR AIDS fundraiser that was being held at the Royal Ontario Museum that night, it looks like he has indeed managed to get himself into quite a bit of trouble.
The very best that can be said for Jónsson is that at least he wasn't into the sort of performance art that involved joking to airport security in the United States about his shoe bombs, and that Canada lacks a Guantanamo. (I'm honestly just a bit unsure as to whether the last might be a bad thing in this case.)
Icelandic art student Thórarinn Ingi Jónsson caused quite a fuss in downtown Toronto this week when he left a phony bomb in an art gallery as part of an art project. The gallery was cleared and police closed streets in the city center.
“I created a sculpture from wood and paint that looked like a bomb at first glance. I then recorded two videos on a cell phone that show a blast,” Jónsson, who is studying at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, told Fréttabladid.
“The day I was supposed to show my final project I went to the gallery and placed the sculpture next to a bench with a note saying it wasn’t a bomb,” Jónsson continued. Then he went back to his class to show his artwork and only found out later how much trouble it had caused.
“I haven’t heard from the police but I spoke to the college’s lawyer before I started making the artwork,” Jónsson said, adding the Canadian media has been rather negative towards his work, saying it can hardly be categorized as art.
Jónsson is not bothered by the negative coverage. He explained his work was inspired by Marcel Duchamp who placed a toilet in an art gallery. Jónsson said his work is also a reference to modern times.
“This wouldn’t have been such a big deal before September 11, 2001. Everything has changed since then. The timing of the work is therefore important,” Jónsson concluded.
In an interview with Torontoist, Jónsson further explained his actions.
Yesterday at about 4 p.m., Jonsson walked into the ROM with the fake bomb inside a bag. Attached to the bomb was a note that read "This is not a bomb." Jonsson thought that the note meant he wasn't breaking the law: he had been advised by an OCAD Student Union lawyer before installing the piece, he says, against spreading false news, and told that he should not attempt to deceive people about the bomb's legitimacy. (That's why, for instance, one of the descriptions for the videos he later uploaded read: "Fake footage of the fake bombing at the Royal Ontario Museum capturing the fake moment of impact.") Though Jonsson intended to leave the pipe bomb outside of the bag out in the open in a "noticeable spot," "almost like a presentation," he says there were "too many people around," and he decided to keep the sculpture inside the bag, placing it on the right-hand side of the ROM's Bloor Street entrance with the declarative note visible on top.
"I went a bit down the street, as soon as I came out of the gathering," he told us, "and I dialed up the ROM and they asked for an extension and I hadn't really thought that far, so I typed in some random last name and I ended up reaching some girl at some office at the ROM and I simply told her: 'Listen there's no bomb by the entrance to the museum,' and then I hung up."
Jonsson went straight from the ROM back to school for 5 p.m. to give his presentation of his final piece, where he "revealed the extent of the project." People in his class, he says "were really impressed with the extent I went to." Worried that there was a possibility of legal action, he hadn't told his professors about the piece until the night it was installed.
When Jonsson got back home, he uploaded the videos he'd recorded earlier that day to YouTube (to an account that featured other videos––like the one of Osama Bin Laden on the roof of the World Trace Center watching as hearts pour out of the building and Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me" plays––that Jonsson says are "completely unrelated"). Then, he e-mailed the addresses of them to several news organizations.
"I didn't really expect it go so crazy."
Unfortunately for him, quite apart from forcing the cancellation of a CanFAR AIDS fundraiser that was being held at the Royal Ontario Museum that night, it looks like he has indeed managed to get himself into quite a bit of trouble.
Jonsson, a third-year student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, was released after $33,000 was posted as a cash bond by three separate sureties. Jonsson is an Icelandic citizen and must surrender his passport to police within 24 hours of his release and reside with one of the sureties, who is a clinical psychologist and friend of the family living in downtown Toronto.
[. . .]
Toronto Police Det. Leslie Dunkley said the criminal charges Jonsson faces could land him up to four years in prison, if he’s convicted.
“It’s a very serious offence,” Dunkley said. “We take it seriously and we don’t want to encourage it.”
The judge imposed a publication ban on evidence presented at the bail hearing Friday morning.
As part of his conditions of release, Jonsson must also stay away from the ROM property, he cannot possess any explosive devices or imitations of explosive devices, he cannot possess illegal weapons and he must go to counselling as directed by his surety. One of the sureties, the wife of a retired Honorary Council of Iceland, posted $25,000 of the total.
The very best that can be said for Jónsson is that at least he wasn't into the sort of performance art that involved joking to airport security in the United States about his shoe bombs, and that Canada lacks a Guantanamo. (I'm honestly just a bit unsure as to whether the last might be a bad thing in this case.)
