Couple Defaced $400k Painting in S. Korea Thinking It Was Public Art Project | Hacker News Reader

Couple Defaced $400k Painting in S. Korea Thinking It Was Public Art Project

nytimes.com

28 pointsstrict915 comments

This seems to be a great example of 'manufactured rage'.

- arbitrarily valued art with a high price tag - public display with no active guard - provided paint and supplies - the graffiti is indistinguishable from the art, to me.

Meh.

I think the fact that most viewers aren't sure where the vandalism begins and the original ends about encapsulates my opinion of this contemporary art.

Yep. Be smart of the artists to do this as a conspiracy and stunt for free advertisement

I would personally be embarrassed if some amateur could deface my work and people couldn't tell. I don't think you could do this with any other artistic medium and still be respected.

The original work was even named “Untitled”.

...but why were the spray cans there, filled with paint?

The whole thing looks like bait

Could be a case to be made that it's entrapment.

The ‘artist’ spent many years vandalizing subway trains, buildings, and other properties.

Payback’s a bitch.

Perhaps the Korean couple should simply identify as ‘graffiti artists’ and get a pass.

They can make an NFT and retire.

More like "Couple accidentally adds 3 brushstrokes to abstract painting littered deliberately with spray cans and other painting instruments"

"it’s hard to tell where the artist’s work ends and the vandalism begins"

Seems like no harm, no foul.

Reminded me of this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettecke

Another art project of his, an infant bathtub draped with stuff, was also destroyed -- by people who used it to wash some dishes.

In either case, the story seems more interesting than the work itself, but what do I know.

Worst/likely outcome: painting is restored, everyone loses interest without the 'interesting strokes'.

Yep, I think the couple actually improved it, not that it elevates my opinion of it much more.

I still like the guy who ate the $120K banana

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