Czech artist tells European Union to lighten up
Czech artist David Cerny was given £350,000 from his government to oversee the creation of a sculpture featuring the work of artists from all 27 European Union nations.
Instead, he got together with his pals and made an eight-ton sculpture called "Entropia" that depicted Romania as a "Dracula theme park," the Netherlands as being underwater "with only the tops of minarets sticking out," Bulgaria "as a series of squat toilets," Sweden as being "packed into an IKEA box" and so on.
I think he should be paid double.
The original intention was indeed to ask 27 European artists for participation. But it became apparent that this plan cannot be realised, due to time, production, and financial constraints. The team therefore, without the knowledge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decided to create fictitious artists who would represent various European national and artistic stereotypes. We apologise to Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra, Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and their departments that we did not inform them of the true state of affairs and thus misguided them. We did not want them to bear the responsibility for this kind of politically incorrect satire. We knew the truth would come out. But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself.Statement by Czech artist David CernyAt the beginning stood the question: What do we really know about Europe? We have information about some states, we only know various tourist clichés about others. We know basically nothing about several of them. The art works, by artificially constructed artists from the 27 EU countries, show how difficult and fragmented Europe as a whole can seem from the perspective of the Czech Republic. We do not want to insult anybody, just point at the difficulty of communication without having the ability of being ironic.
Grotesque hyperbole and mystification belongs among the trademarks of Czech culture and creating false identities is one of the strategies of contemporary art. The images of individual parts of Entropa use artistic techniques often characterised by provocation. The piece thus also lampoons the socially activist art that balances on the verge between would-be controversial attacks on national character and undisturbing decoration of an official space. We believe that the environment of Brussels is capable of ironic self-reflection, we believe in the sense of humour of European nations and their representatives.
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"The art works, by artificially constructed artists from the 27 EU countries, show how difficult and fragmented Europe as a whole can seem from the perspective of the Czech Republic."
Weak.
Hm.
If 27 European artists had done the exact same hilarious sculpture as a collaborative effort, that would be just peachy.
But if you get an enormous government grant to include work from all nations of the EU, I think you ought to deliver on that, or give the money back.
Sharp artistic satire is just fine. Deception is not.
Sure, this could be the work of an artist being ironic about views on Europe.
It could also be the work of a lazy asshole, the kind that uses a sharpie in the bathroom to proclaim "OVYYL VM N SNTTBG".
I'm inclined towards the latter. The fact that he invented the identities of other artists (and collected pay for them) would further paint this guy as a fraud. This is the age of the internet, it would not be very difficult to get others involved - his view is by no means unique; having the "tourist view" of Europe being lampooned by a host of artists from different cultural backgrounds would actually have artistic merit.
*plonk*
Well, I think it's an amazing, hilarious sculpture. I'm especially fond of Germany as a series of highways.
I just think it's the sort of thing you should pay for yourself, instead of conning a grant under false pretenses.
"STINKBUTT"
/A "my brethren!" nod to any who get it
He (the artist) might have been better off if he hadn't started by explaiing that he thought it (the art) would be taken as a joke. Well, so much for laughing. Social commentary is an important part of art, or can be. He should have simply told the people that the art was meant to be provocative. Then they could have enjoyed the provocation while asking "what does it mean?"
JT Montreal,
You might want to check the Moderation Policy.
Comes across like a drunken party prank thought up by a guy who knew better when sober, but decided to go ahead anyway because it seemed so funny at the time.
we believe in the sense of humour of European nations and their representatives.
But does he also believe in the sense of honour of European nations and their penal codes?
A jerk and a fraud. He was commissioned to prepare an artwork CELEBRATING the Czech Republic's presidency of the EU. Instead he pockets 350,000 pounds and produces a denigrating piece I'd expect to see in an amusement park (as fabricated by its teenaged summer staff). Instead of being inspired, I'm repulsed. I hope they prosecute his tush off.
is there like a guide to what each part is? What's the Orc for example?
like his work
http://www.davidcerny.cz/startEN.html
Art school rhetoric can't hide the fact that he just stole a lot of money from his fellow Czech citizens. Are "artists" not bound by contractual obligations? If you're that dedicated to turning the whole thing into a joke, then do it on your own dime.
@12-Takuan
is that a command?
Interesting statement about Finland included in that piece-- a small drunk soldier on the floor and various large animals (elephant, hippo). It sort of says that the reality of Finland (which does have its fair share of drunks passed out on sidewalks, and alcoholism, and an obligatory army or public service) is smaller and less known than the bizarre mystical things that people may hear about it.
I can see how peoples' first reaction to this piece is offense, but if you read the guy's statement on why he created it, you can really see the point. Outsiders to Europe often imagine Europe as this happy land with intermixed cultures where everyone knows about the world and Europe, but I have encountered just the same amount of ignorance from Europeans as from Americans (who are considered to be the most ignorant in the world).
This is probably not the rainbows and flowers and happy bunnies that the EU thought they would be getting when they commissioned this piece, but they got the truth. What do people in the Czech Republic know about the rest of the countries they're grouped together with? What indeed does any member state know about any other member state?
I thought that it was a brilliant statement about the Disneyfication of Europe. Why have artists from 27 nations churn out heartwarming cultural stereotypes when you can outsource it to a central workshop?
Hey, i´m Spanish and the depiction of Spain totally cover in concrete is incredibly accurate and hilarious*. the only thing you can see from most houses are forest of cranes and oceans of overpriced flats.
Those who feel aggravated by that satire should try to look with other eyes their own countries and cheer a little bit.
The joke is great and one part of it is also the nonexistence of 26 authors who even have their own biographies. When Bulgaria is removed from Entropa (because it wants that), the missing or covered country will be a part of it, too. The author is Czech and the Czechs don't have a wonderful image either - the quotes of our eurosceptic president. The work's good and here in Europe really are people who love it.
@Ryan - Outsiders to Europe often imagine Europe as this happy land with intermixed cultures where everyone knows about the world and Europe
To be fair, all most American knows is that European nations do not actually get along all that well and have needed the US to come over there several times now to break up fights and enforce your restraining orders.
link slipped, "brownnosers FUTURA gallery"
Very nice — but give the fucking money back. The role of the artist as regards the state is Solzhenitsyn's 3D model: Don't believe them, Don't be afraid of them, and Don't ask anything of them.
Check out Cerny's pre-release brochure if you want to see all the member states (although it shows sketches rather than the finished article). The ultra-pretentious descriptions are a satirical masterpiece.
@ryan
This is probably not the rainbows and flowers and happy bunnies that the EU thought they would be getting when they commissioned this piece, but they got the truth.
Probably not, but the "truth" about a country from a resident artist would've been a lot better than the generic, trite stereotypes that this guy used.
The real crime isn't Cerny defrauding the EU, it's that he stole an opportunity from 27 artists around Europe.
But what's really funny is the note at the bottom of Cerny's site:
The prague gallerist Jiri Svestka owes me a lot of money. I advise to watch out for that man, I’m not the only one who was robbed by him. I can provide you with more information.
Hey man, maybe Jiri just thought you were an "artificially constructed" artist.
@5 bbonyx
Yes!!! Do I win a yellow WNYX mug?@4
Those German Authobahns look like a Swastika.
@11
It's not an orc, it's count Dracula, the Mickey Mouse of Romania.
@17
Is it a bomb there in the Basque country?
The sculpture may be funny but the fact that he got paid for it with money that was supposed to be given to multiple artists is not.
@Antinous: I think "brilliant" is going a bit far. It is a lazy, disrespectful, and utterly juvenile representation of that concept. There are more artistic ways of expressing disdain for a perceived "Disneyfication" of Europe, and most of them don't require animatronic figurines copulating with soccer balls. An artful jester doesn't need to spit in the face of the king.
offensive or not, this is pretty weak. 350K pounds is not pocket change, yet that where most of the money went, I'm sure. So it's a great publicity stunt for giving "artists" (are they really artists?) an even worse reputation.
It's also a typical nation-centric approach where its oh so funny here (CZ) and who gives a hoot from over there (EU), neither constructive or destructive for anybody.
Why have artists from 27 nations churn out heartwarming cultural stereotypes when you can outsource it to a central workshop?
Oh, I don't know. Maybe because that's what he said he was going to do.
#25 - The Autobahns do not look like Swastikas at all.
I don't know how you got that silly idea.
He couldn't find 27 artists in different countries? Does he has internet?
It would make sense to me if BoingBoing celebrated someone who was given some boring project but instead decided to group-hack the system and launch an international open-source collaborative piece of art.
Doing the exact opposite doesn't feel very BoingBoing.
And what were his financial constraints? £350,000 wasn't enough?
His fraud overshadows the work. This was supposed to be the work of a large group of artists. He took all the money and basically awarded himself all the contracts.
Even with justifications high, wide and handsome, the kind of artist this guy is, is a con artist.
@29
Well, the artist denies that it was his plan but the similarity of the Autobahns in the sculpture to the Hakenkreuz did not go unnoticed in Germany.
His name is Robert Paulson.
hee! you're all just jealous. Any money taken from any government by any artist is by natural law, NOT THEFT.
#29, #32
Well yeah, my fellow countrymen are so used to being bashed for the nazis they see offenses everywhere.
The piece's aesthetics are irrelevant. He needs to repay the money, or should face whatever persecution that can be brought against him. Upon realizing he wasn't able to make the project that he was awarded the grant to realize, he should have returned the money, possibly retaining some small amount to cover his expenses (with the permission of the Czach government).
That's a massive art grant, just shy of half a million in US dollars, and by abusing it, he's deprived an almost ungodly amount of potential arts funding from artists who both need the funds to realize projects and exhibitions and artists who are capable of fulfilling their obligations to the grantmakers who generously fund them.
Apparently, this created a bit of furor from the Slovaks, for their country being depicted as a Hungarian sausage.
I guess it takes a Czech to know how to provoke Slovaks (a Hungarian artist probably wouldn't dare).. My ancestry is ethnic-Hungarian-from-present-day-Slovakia and I can tell you, Hungarian-Slovak relations have never been particularly good, but their current right-wing government has been.. let's say, "actively disinterested" about Hungarian minority rights.
(Something the Hungarian government is zealous about, given that something like 1/6 of all Hungarians live in adjacent countries)
They should be grateful he didn't do something with Roma.. If there's anything that Magyars and Slovaks agree on, it's that they both hate Gypsies worse.
Tabula Rasa writed that 'they see offenses every-
where.' Somehow, the trouble in Grmny during the
RR years, a news blackout, got related to the pass-
ing of Lord Mountbatten off the coast of Ireland...?
i also have been fan of the artist http://www.davidcerny.cz/ for a while.
If he had done what he claimed on the proposal, and produced a mediocre work of art, no one would care.
All proposal writing is to some degree an exercise in bullshit.
And most of the NEW art funded by governments is boring, forgettable crap.
From what i know of the culture he comes from, this should be judged more in strategic terms than moral ones.
I can see that he has provoked a lot of intemperate language here and probably elsewhere too, but frankly if the grant awarding authorities in the EU had taken his track record into account, surely they must have had SOME clue as to what they might expect? If you look at his website there is a fair bit of lavatorial humour and political point scoring.
Having had to endure the unbelievable bureaucracy of an EU grant for serious scientific purposes (5 duplicated sets each about 3,000 sheets, of the invoices, receipts, evidences, signed forms, reports etc. All of which they lost twice and had to have sent again only for them to nitpick through as though we were major criminals) i have a certain admiration for someone who does something intrinsically funny like this and gets away with it.
Well I guess I can check "Figure out why getting art funding is so difficult" off the list. . .
all the comments blasting this guy have really upset me.
enough to make me sign up and post!
so the major point of contention here is that because this artist didnt do precisely what he said he would do, he should give the money back?
how many times have our governments taken our money or bailed out a series of banks without even telling us what theyre going to do let alone actually do it?
and what is the amount of that money in relation to what this guy received?
are we all in an uproar because art isnt something worthwhile? unlike missiles and fighter jets and nuclear weapons?
ooooo i am all worked up now and running late for work. perhaps more later!
Ireland is depicted as a brown bog with bagpipes protruding from Northern Ireland; the bagpipes play music every five minutes.
The United Kingdom, known for its Euroscepticism and relative isolation from the Continent, is "included" as missing piece (an empty space) at the top-left of the work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropa
Pictures:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7827747.stm
Here is the official website for the work.
And here's the brochure, with fake artists and fake commentary. (pdf)
I would love to see somebody in American rip this idea off and do a derisive 50 states installation.
That's right, I'm advocating plagiarism, or as we say online, a remix.
What a brilliant and interesting work of art.
Now arrest him for fraud.
#40 what EU grant? the grant was apparently from the Czech Govt.
Biting the hand that feeds you is well and good but it's not much of an end in itself. For that kind of cash I'd expect a commentary that was a bit more incisive and interesting than France en Grève or a LEGO Denmark. I have a feeling that the majority of Czechs are less provincial than this guy.
Hi, just registered to post on this.
I live in Czech and it's been all over the news here for the last 4 days.
He got 1,000,000 CZK from the Czech government and 10,000,000 from private sources. That is nearly a total of 350,000 pounds.
Just to put right those wrongly accusing the guy of stealing money from the Czech government, he's already given the money back.
The 10,000,000 czk he keeps, they don't want it back.
Now can we just appreciate a nice piece of art that actually says something, instead of the usual pandering to the tourist board/PR departments of our glorious EU member states?
When I saw this on the BBC the other day, I hadn't laughed so hard over an art piece in years. Well done!
And, if he's already given back the money to the Czech gov't (#48), then he hasn't really defrauded anyone.
As an artwork in itself, no objection (if it doesn't overstep the limits of freedom of speech).
But as this was presented in a political context, it was inappropriate.
(Not that I'm not having a good laugh ;))
Just Do It.
@ #50 J.A.U.N.
But as this was presented in a political context, it was inappropriate.
Funnily, I can think of no better time to be inappropriate than in a political context.
Fake Dracula looks FAKE.
As far as frauds go, this is art.
He merits an award, in the form of a lawsuit.
Well, the real "Dracula" aka Vlad Tepes was pleased to no end that in his day he was used as a boogeyman to frighten children. He'd have been by far even more pleased that centuries after his death he'd obtained such legendary status.
Its a failed Joke,
a failed statement,
and a failed provocation,
but a real fraud, and perhaps thats the real artistic statement.
I'm in two minds about the piece, part of me thinks that it's genius and that the Czech government should be praising him, the other part thinks it's a bit, well, ugly. I love the ideas behind it and it fits in very well with Czech culture (I've been there many times and got engaged to my ex-wife on Charles Bridge in Prague on Christmas Day many years back) but there's something about the presentation that just doesn't fit the proposed location of the work.
On balance though I'm definitely more for than against, my hat's off to the fella.
The collaborating artists names are not invented, but stolen!
One of the problems with this piece is that the "collaborating artists" are not invented, but at least some of the them actualy exists. (Danish Susan Malberg Albertsen, http://kpn.dk/billedkunst/article1569324.ece ). There is actually very few justifications for not even having the energy to invent the fake names.
(Otherwise the piece would have been a fun statement on EU. The problem with it is, besides the above, that it was given to much of an official position in placement and presentation. It was then judged as an official statement from the EU, and not as a commentary through art.)
Like the title says, 'lighten up' :)
I'm Spanish and I laughed hard at his depiction of Spain - and I live in Holland, so I could appreciate his depiction of the Netherlands, too.
But most of all, I appreciated the biting socio-economical commentary on both instances. Spain's "brick economy" is the source of corruption, economical crisis, ecological disasters, and a sad reality for a country in which "a squirrel could travel from tree to tree, from the North to the South, without touching the ground". Nowadays it's condos and illegal developments.
Brilliant work, offering an independent artistic viewpoint rather than a 'bought' one. Hats off to the guy.
a lot of hilarious moralizing in this thread
i find it hard to care how many people get that grant money; it's not like it would have gone to the poor or anything useful, just a tiny number of artists who probably would have been as mediocre as this guy but without the sense of playfulness
Me like! If you've been to Prague then you know of his giant babies crawliing up and down the Zizkov TV tower. The piece is playful and engaging and I hope it finds a permanent home, if only in parts.
Since he gave back the government grant money, which is 10% of the total he got for the work, there's really no reason to moralize. The story was fraud but the artwork was real and you can see he put a lot of work into it, as is plain from the other works on his website.
Check out the criminal judgment tattooing bed that he did for a movie of Kafka's "The Penal Colony." (That bed, with the colony's warden in it, is probably the only thing most people remember from the story.)
Well done, sir!
I think it's hilarious. I think the sublime execution of an art-prank is a dying and under-appreciated form that's lost on some of you who are a little too uptight (but on whose existence relies the art-prank itself). I know that such types (as well as stuffy, unbearable, officially sanctioned public art matrons) might very well have prefered a traditonally dressed Dutch girl holding tulips for Netherlands and maybe a painting of a mime posing beneath the Eifel Tower for France etc but I think as far as normally dull, feel-good quasi-governmental art projects go, this one is pretty rich.
Everywhere on the globe, big government steals from honest people and then gives the money away to various cronies of those in power, be they banks, cost plus contractors, or poser artists.
David Cerny is a brilliant and controversial artist and has been so for years. Many of the comments in this thread are exactly what he is talking about. The people of Europe can't laugh at themselves.
What I find even funnier is that most of the people here aren't even FROM Europe, yet act all offended by the art. Personally I think it's brilliant. Sure the pretenses under which it was made are suspect and he probably should give the money back...but the EU dumps far larger sums of money here (in Europe, where I live) on far stupider ideas that have no merit whatsoever. At least they got a nice piece of controversial art and a whole lot of free press out of it.
...th Nthrlnds s bng ndrwtr "wth nly th tps f mnrts stckng t.
Gv t fw mr dcds nd ths wn't b crctr nymr.
Reminds me of Stephen Colbert being invited to perform at the 2006 Press Corps dinner. Someone obviously neglected to do their homework on Cerny and the result is one of those glorious, king-has-no-clothes moments that breaks through the carefully orchestrated facade and makes life worth living. Huzzah.
Tak @34 - It might be funny to imagine 'stealing' from the government, until you realize that the government got that money by 'stealing' from us. Cerny took citizens' money and wasted it.
My biggest issue with this piece is not that the content is juvenile (which it is) and lowest-common-denominator. My biggest issue is that I just don't think it's good art. None of the pieces were at all aesthetically pleasing, interestingly composed, creative or unique. They're just a bunch of lame dioramas (nothing against dioramas, though - dioramas are AWESOME when done right).
I don't know how they didn't see this coming, though, after looking at his previous art. Look, for example, at this one - http://www.davidcerny.cz/EN/ND.html - which was apparently intended to protest the Czech Republic's entrance into the EU by having a giant man-fountain jacking itself off. Almost all of his work is gutter-based, but never in an interesting way.
The Colbert thing, though, was genius. That's along the lines of what I wish this guy had done.
between politicos blowing the cash on coke and hookers as usual, or enriching some artist - I'll go artist every time. Face it, as a taxpayer you're fleeced anyway.
It seems a lot of folks just completely don't get it. Here's the "Dick and Jane" explanation.
Vaclav Klaus, the Czech prime minister, is an ardent Eurosceptic who views Brussels in approximately the same light that an Appalachian survivalist militaman views the US federal government. He actively supported the Irish "No" campaign on the EU "no, we SWEAR it's not a..." Constitution.
The Czechs elected him in time for the Czech republic's turn in the EU's revolving presidency. Just "coincidentally", he caused a work of public art to be produced - ostensibly in celebration of the Czech presidency - from an artist who isn't hugely enamoured of the EU. The work produced just "accidentally" happens to attack the EU bureaucracy and European leaders' pretension, self-importance, corruption and vacuity.
Are we getting the picture now?
The EU is often criticised by its citizens for its wasteful and corrupt bureaucracy, out of touch, self-congratulatory leadership, and the fact that an organisation ostensibly supposed to represent 27 sovereign nations acts in the interests of (i) its most powerful members and (ii) its own bureaucracy (in no particular order).
After considering the above, what do we think Cerny might have been trying to say by advertising a piece to be produced by 27 artists from around the EU and having one of them pocket the money? Do you think he might be saying something about how the EU spends our money?
It's hard to see how the money would have been better spent if it was used to produce the intended masturbatory monument to self-congratulation.
It works pretty well if you play Grizzly Bear's "A Good Place" (from "Horn of Plenty (the remixes)") and start it at the same time as the video.
Am I giving this too much credit by repeatedly thinking of a Zappa prank?
I find the piece and the concept funny enough, but the commentary on some of the depicted countries could have used some more zest.
Namely the depiction of my home country Austria, with the nuclear plant, is just a cheap shot at Austria protesting the operation of dangerously outdated Czech nuclear plants near the Czech-Austrian border.
What I would rather have seen criticized is the refusal of the Austrian government to adhere to EU law concerning immigration.
In the conservative right wing-climate in Austria (never mind its now under supposed socialist government, they are just the same), immigration to Austria is actively discouraged, even penalized to the extent that Austrian citizens marrying non-EU-citizens have to overcome various bureaucratic and financial obstacles put up by the government to discourage them from doing so.
These laws only apply to Austrians, not other EU citizens living in Austria, meaning Austrians are discriminated in their own home country if they try to engage in intercultural marriage. This kind of shortsighted, provincial, bigot legislation I would like to see depicted before the eyes of all Europe, not the fact that Austria is anti-nuclear plants.
And I'm sure citizens of other European countries would have a lot sharper things to say about their country than those depicted.
There is a lot of interesting points in comments above, so I wont repeat. I just want to add one point. If David Černý didnt do this exactly how he did it there would not be such a great discussion about it. There are very important questions brought to life by his action:
Can we laugh at ourselves? Why are we so serious about life?
@#72
1. No.
2. Because it's all we've got.
Are the answers worth as much as the questions*? If so I'd like £350,000.
* I know they're not. After all, art exists to ask questions, not give answers, right?
there is only one proper reply to this: war.
Many, many people in Europe who saw this thought it was genuinely FUNNY. They saw the humour, very clearly.
It's amazing to me how many commentators here are so very pissed off (mostly from the US?) when many European commentators are either defending his 'art' (hmmm) or simply saying they knew it was a joke and got they totally got it.
R-E-L-A-X....
The Czechs (bless them) are embarrassed cos they commissioned and PAID for it - are very apologetic.
I know that any Irish people thought it was silly and fun (esp. in the way Ireland is depicted) and Dutch friends of mine thought depiction of their country as mostly water with minarets appearing over the water line was satirically on point.
The artist claims his contract protects him from having to return the money (whatever - more here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7830498.stm).
I'd love (and be a little scared!) to see how US-ians would re-act to an artist's depiction of the 50 states that wasn't politically correct but deliberately satirical - and meant to be taken as a joke.
Given the comments here- it would not be received well - at all...
Pity - the humour is very cool and it wasn't personal.
@ fontastique:
"Its a failed Joke, a failed statement, and a failed provocation."
Such a failure, yes. He got paid for it, it almost immediately became an international news story of certifiable infamy, and it has people like you crying "fraud."
@ Roach:
"My biggest issue with this piece is not that the content is juvenile (which it is) and lowest-common-denominator. My biggest issue is that I just don't think it's good art."
Funny thing about art. All sorts of people have all sorts of issues with all sorts of things. Fortunately, my critical interpretations of art don't depend on yours or anyone else's. Not that you're not entitled to an opinion, but the main reason this work is so funny is that so many people are losing their freaking minds over it.
Confrontational art is so often disparaged, it's like a badge of honor for some people. Maybe some of you should try to get your own grants, make some inoffensive art, and stop whining.
When I was in design school, one of my fellow students said something in one of the studio classes about how she had been thinking about what was wrong with my project while she was stuck in traffic. The teacher immediately chimed in to say that I should consider that a success. It's rare for anyone to pay any attention at all.
Am I the only one to notice the complete lack of artsiness in this PoS? I mean, forget the fact that he stole the money (booh) or that he pulled a prank (yay), this collage of his is... it's so obvious and easy to think and so ugly to look at! Similar 'maps' of Europe have been doing the rounds for decades now and noone would dare pass one as 'art', much less charge for the privilege!
Yuk. Plus, I don't have a problem with satire through stereotyping, but this is soooo obvious it's just lazy.
what's really interesting is how no comments arise about Vaclav Klaus, the commu-nazi who is now figurehead of EU - the guy thinks all this global warming thing is bunk... when I lived there I was told he and his cronies are WAY corrupt - Cerny (and other Czech creatives) are odd in their thinking, but far from stupid. This was the guy who painted the tank pink by the way: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/66274
"There are more artistic ways of expressing disdain for a perceived "Disneyfication" of Europe, and most of them don't require animatronic figurines copulating with soccer balls. An artful jester doesn't need to spit in the face of the king."
What a bunch of whiny, humorless moralists more concerned with propriety and the amount of money involved than with the piece and what it says! Y'all need to more than lighten up, and that king ought to get ready for more than a little spit in his eye, 'cuz it's about time it was our turn for a while, since The Owners have been raping us and the earth ever since the dawn of Empire, some 6,000 years ago.
Let's face it, folks, the way the world's set up is nothing more than a series of arbitrary, unnecessary and highly inter-connected scarcity rackets camoflaged with Propaganda Ministry versions of History (the Good War, etc.) For a little perspective on these fawning-on-the-State moanings about the "fraud" perpetrated by Cerny, try Murray Bookchin's 1969 Letter to the SDS http://www.social-ecology.org/article.php?story=20031118112146907 (it's as relevant now as then...no, actually more so, this close to the end of entitlement...oh, yeah, get ready--the scarcity racket is about to get racheted up like we haven't seen since Bretton Woods...)