Submitted by David Horvitz:
Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. – Two art students from Bard College, David Horvitz and Lukas Geronimas, walked into the Hessel Museum on Bard’s campus, put on pinocchio costumes that were part of an art-work on display, and ran out of the museum. Chasing them, a museum security guard brought down one of the pinocchios, and brought him back inside. The other, giving himself in, walked back into the museum with the guard and his apprehended friend.
Here’s a video shot by one of their friends:
The costumes were part of a Paul McCarthy video installation on display called Pinocchio Pipenose Household Dilemma (Party Pack). To see the video you have to put on the costume – a mask, body suit, gloves, socks, and shoes.
Once you put everything on you are allowed into the video room. Horvitz and Geronimas both put on the costumes. They went in and watched the video. But, instead of returning the costumes when they left the room, both kept walking until they were being followed and asked to take them off – then they began to run.
A note was handed to the attendant distributing the costumes that stated they they had no intention to steal the costumes. They had planned on returning them once they finished “watching the piece.” Both thought that as long as the costumes were on, they were still experiencing the art-work. They decided to take this experience outside.
To further boast their wit, after being taken back into the museum, both had pulled out a photocopy of a chapter in a book that explained what to do incase one was caught stealing. The photocopies were made from an art-work by Bik Van Der Pol, also on display in the Hessel. The piece consisted of a photocopy machine that encouraged people to make copies from a variety of books on display, mostly dealing in someway or another with duping the system.
Horvitz and Geronimas were let go with no charges. According to them the guards were completely dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do with a few runaway pinnochios.
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