英国の現代アートを代表するデミアン・ハーストの有名な「牛の輪切りのホルマリン漬け」が税関?で英国産牛肉への輸入規制（輸入不可）に引っかかり、危うく森美術館で開催される展示会『英国美術の現在史：ターナー賞の歩み展』に出品ができなくなるところだったそうです。というか、食べないだろう。これ、どうみても、食用牛肉じゃないだろう。だって、朽ち果てていくのを展示する「アート作品」です。大体、税関通告書見ればわかるでしょうに…。よっぽど検査官は驚いたろうなと思います。でも、ホームでひたすら爆笑でございました。

で、この朽ち果てていく美しさを求められるウシくんたちは他の現代作品とともに，六本木の森美術館で７月13日まで展示されます。

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Damien Hirst's cow art in a pickle


Telegraph
By Johanna Leggatt
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 09/04/2008


Damien Hirst's controversial artwork of a cow preserved in formaldehyde has caused a headache for staff at a Tokyo museum


A pickled cow by British artist Damien Hirst ran into trouble on its way to a Tokyo museum because of Japan's strict import ban on British beef.



A vistor inspects Damien Hirst's Mother and Child, Divided
A Tate Modern staff member inspects Hirst's Mother and Child, Divided when it was first installed


Hirst's Mother and Child, Divided, consisting of a cow and a calf each sliced in half, is part of a retrospective of Britain's controversial Turner Prize at The Mori Arts Museum.

Due to Japan's ban on British beef after the mad cow disease outbreak, the museums' representatives had to convince customs officials that the cow was indeed art, and not dinner.

"I think my staff explained that it's not for eating," Fumio Nanjo, Director of the Mori Art Museum, said.

However, once the cow had cleared customs, the problems didn't end there. The orginal cow and calf - which won the 1995 Turner prize - had started to rot, so the museum has had to replace them with a new and improved version that is usually displayed at the Astrup Fearnly Museum in Oslo.
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"The original cow was decaying very fast. This is the second version," Nanjo said.

Furthermore, for their trip to Japan, the carcasses had to be taken out of their original formaldehyde solution, and will be re-pickled for the Tokyo exhibition.

Fearing that formaldehyde fumes could poison staff as the liquid is poured into the cow's glass case, the museum has pledged to install a ventilation system.

This will involve major construction work, including drilling a new shaft through the ceiling.

It isn't the first time Hirst's penchant for picked animals have caused a stir.

In 2006, Hirst had to replace his pickled shark, titled "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living", with a new one after the original had begun to rot.

Nanjo however, seemed unperturbed by the bureaucratic hic-cups. "This is a major work for the show. So we cannot give up," he said.


History in the Making: A Retrospective of the Turner Prize, at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo's Roppongi neighbourhood, will run from April 25 to July 13.




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