USA, mom and daughter mistake conceptual work for a swing and destroy it ten minutes after opening

After the Italian tourist literally fell into the Anish Kapoor work on display at the Serralves Museum in Porto, Portugal,(we told you about it here) another similar incident happened at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, this time with a conceptual work by artist Sean Matthews, displayed in his solo exhibition Recycled Play.

The work in question is the installation called "Fair and Square," which was mistaken for a swing by two female tourists, a mother and teenage daughter. The chain welds, according to Matthews’ idea, were meant to hold the two swing seats in a horizontal position: in a video taken by the hall’s surveillance cameras and later posted on YouTube, the two can clearly be seen, heedless of the warnings instructing visitors not to touch the installation, grabbing the seats and pulling them down, ruining the work. This was all about ten minutes after the exhibition opened.

The artist explained that it had taken sixty hours of welding work to give the work the particular position Matthews had envisioned: sixty hours of work, and barely three seconds, as seen in the video, to destroy it. Mother and daughter, once they realized that that was not a real swing (since the welds, though forced, still did not allow for natural movement) walked away, leaving the museum once they realized the misunderstanding.

The work, according to local newspaper PennLive, had been insured for $5,000. Matthews’ work, which harkens back to Duchampian ready-mades , was intended to modify a childhood game (a swing, in fact) to reflect on the transition from childhood to adulthood: this was the leitmotif of the exhibition, which, the presentation states, “uses objects from childhood to unite three concepts: parental control, themes from art history, and fundamental elements and principles of drawing. Although the work is inspired by the abstraction of these concepts, the familiar forms allow each viewer to experience the works through their childhood memories” (evidently the installation activated the memories of the two female visitors all too much). The artist, unable to repair the work quickly, stood by the work throughout the vernissage explaining what had happened and what his initial intentions were.

Lauren Nye, director of exhibitions at the Susquehanna museum, issued a statement saying, “The museum regrets the unfortunate incident involving the Sean Matthews exhibition. Events such as this are the reason museums and cultural institutions get insurance, and we have initiated the paperwork with our insurance company to settle this situation in the most appropriate manner. There are important reasons why institutions ask visitors not to touch works of art, the most important of which is to keep the works and visitors safe. [...] Following the incident, we employed our staff and volunteers in rigorous discussions about visitor safety and related procedures. We have also enhanced signaling, indicating that the artwork must not be touched. We urge the public to visit art and history museums conscientiously so as to preserve collections and ensure the safety of all.”

Pictured, Fair and Square before it was ruined.

USA, mom and daughter mistake conceptual work for a swing and destroy it ten minutes after opening

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