November 30, 2007

Toronto Police Give Art Student's Hoax Project a Failing Grade

The Ontario College of Art and Design, in Toronto, has suspended a student and two faculty members after an unusual art project, involving a bomb hoax, forced the evacuation of the Royal Ontario Museum on Wednesday night and the cancellation of a major black-tie fund raiser for AIDS research.

A bomb-disposal squad was sent in to deal with what was thought to be a genuine explosive, The Globe and Mail reported, and traffic in downtown Toronto was affected for four hours.

The student, Thorarinn Jonsson, turned himself in to the police last night. He told The Toronto Star that the fake bomb was a sculpture and part of his class project.

The art project’s public exhibition began when a suspicious package — bearing a sign saying it was not a bomb — was delivered to the museum. Then a blurry, shaky 1:49-minute video, titled “The fake bombing at the ROM, Toronto, 28.11.07,” appeared on YouTube. The video purported to show the blast. A 19-second clip followed, showing a supposed eyewitness who says there has been an explosion.

The Toronto police have charged Mr. Jonsson with common nuisance and mischief interfering with property. The university said the faculty members, whom it did not identify, would be suspended until its investigation was complete. The museum said the fund raiser would be rescheduled. —Karen Birchard

Comments

1. Could be art. Dunno. It would definitely NOT be art if it had gotten anything other than a failing grade.

   — marci    Nov 30, 04:44 PM    #

2. A few months or even years in the slam might educate this dim bulb “artist” about some of the boundries of his expression.
   The art world is very tolerant of bogus works – see the slop produced by Warhol and now worth millions – but there is a limit. These schmucks crossed it.

   — arthur Wegweiser    Nov 30, 05:09 PM    #

3. I’ve read that the cancelled AIDS benefit had run up costs of $100,000. I hope Mr. Jonsson pays at least some of that.

   — Carol Anne    Nov 30, 06:03 PM    #

4. Art is about the freedom to express yourself. And since most of us can remember, artists have shocked us with the outrageous and obscene works they come up with. In my opinion though, this student has taken it too far. As an art student myself I can understand where he may of been coming from. The artists we remember are those that shocked us the most. But this just seems to be in bad taste to have a fake bomb and a fake bomb threat, causing the cancellation of such a large event.

   — Diandra Gourlay    Dec 2, 12:02 AM    #

5. I will be using this as a case study for an advanced mediation class offered to faculty. The story has great divesity of views.

   — Stanley Braverman, Esq.    Dec 2, 09:12 AM    #

6. It’s too bad that in modern times the measure of success in art has morphed from “freedom of expression” to a simple test of pushing the limits i.e. “outrageous”, “obscene” and “shocking”.

   In this most case, people will die of AIDS sooner or with more pain because the fund raiser got cancelled. The so-called art student should start fund raising for AIDS causes until he makes them whole and then something constructive might come of this.

   — Art Critic    Dec 3, 07:20 AM    #

7. I will be using this as a case study in idiocy.

   — Bryan    Dec 3, 11:03 AM    #

8. Really? Where? During your Idiocy 201 class? Or do you just do one idiocy lecture?

   — Spanky Context    Dec 3, 11:55 AM    #

9. Although this project had a negative affect on something done for a good cause, I think that we SHOULD be challenging the validity of the atmosphere of fear and distrust that we live in these days.
   I am sure that if the student simply left an unmarked package in the entrance to the museum it would have caused the same kind of uproar; whereas if this happened ten years ago, a security guard would have been called and he would have just looked at the package himself and dismissed any idea of danger right then and there.
   We have allowed ourselves to be controlled and manipulated by fear for far too long and this project just underscores the extent to which we have succumbed to the rhetoric of terror.

   — Alex    Dec 3, 03:31 PM    #

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