Purchase of bacon stones sparks debate: 'This is not something the municipality should do'

Three stones that look like bacon have sparked a debate about art and taxpayer money at Copenhagen City Hall.

The "bacon stones" are in fact art, three works by the artist Kasper Hesselbjerg, which the City of Copenhagen has purchased. The total price for the three works is 24,000 kroner.

This has caused outrage in Christian Bülow, a member of the City Council for the Danish People's Party. In B.T. he has called the purchase "nonsense" ( https://www.bt.dk/samfund/koebenhavns-kommune-koeber-bacon-sten-noget-pjat?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AXbw80RDPIHmYo1rXJU50y3mC2EoxQIvUTevwNTMlnwszbYi20xrPMnDar5Mv0Hol2E%3D&gaa_ts=6ace2eac&gaa_sig=0no9UrAGdV7Q1IygV7n2velEUEti4a1Smrmss3JVZxxZ7t8YD7asPwK6tF7zGf5wbybLgYf00tbmdFwmqZMVZQ%3D%3D ) and in Berlingske "ridiculous" and a waste of taxpayer money ( https://www.berlingske.dk/indland/politikerne-paa-koebenhavns-raadhus-koeber-tre-bacon-af-sten-for-24000-kroner ).

But on P1 Morgen, Christian Bülow (DF) says that it is not about him personally having anything against art or modern art.

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> If it were up to the Danish People's Party, we would close the Council for Visual Art.

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- I have modern art hanging at home myself. But that is also my private home and my own private money that goes to it. That is not something the municipality should do, he says.

- This is just an example of works where I think it goes a bit too far. However, it is more about whether one should spend money on that kind of thing or not, he says.

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Will abolish his own committee

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Christian Bülow himself sits on the Council for Visual Art, which on behalf of the City of Copenhagen has purchased the works.

As the only member of the committee, the DF politician has voted against buying Kasper Hesselbjerg's "bacon stones" and several other works. He believes that the council should be abolished.

The council annually supports art projects with approximately 1.1 million kroner and purchases artworks for just over 800,000 kroner. In addition, there are administrative costs.

Photo collage of the three artworks by Kasper Hesselbjerg, which the City of Copenhagen has purchased. The works are made of red-banded limestone, cut in a specific way so that they resemble bacon. (Photo: © Malle Madsen)

The purchased artworks become part of the municipality's collection and are lent out to schools, institutions, and municipal offices.

- If it were up to the Danish People's Party, we would close the Council for Visual Art and use that money on areas that actually benefit the citizens, says Christian Bülow.

He believes the money could be better spent on social and healthcare assistants or home care workers.

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> I believe that art is a fairly essential part of public education.

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- We have just been through a budget where we had to save a lot of money on the social area, he says.

- As politicians, we also have to be honest and point out places where we can save in the public sector, he says.

Mathilde Kastbjerg from the Conservative Party, who is also a member of the Council for Visual Art, has however voted for the purchase of Kasper Hesselbjerg's stones and other works.

- I believe that art is a fairly essential part of public education, and it is important that Copenhageners have the opportunity to enjoy art in public spaces, that is, in schools, institutions, libraries, and in municipal workplaces, says Mathilde Kastbjerg to Berlingske ( https://www.berlingske.dk/indland/politikerne-paa-koebenhavns-raadhus-koeber-tre-bacon-af-sten-for-24000-kroner ).

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Is about our relationship to food

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Kasper Hesselbjerg himself is pleased that the City of Copenhagen has chosen to buy the work.

- It is of course a recognition. I am also glad that the work will be displayed in a public context, as opposed to if it hung in a private home and was reserved for a few, he says to P1 Morgen.

He explains that the stones were part of the exhibition 'Pigs and Pork' ( https://artmatter.dk/artguide/calendar/kasper-hesselbjerg-pigs-and-pork ) , which is about how what we eat connects us to the outside world in different ways.

- My view of art is that I create some material that we can then talk about, he says and adds that two geologists would probably get something different out of the "bacon stones" than two politicians.

- It can, for example, give rise to an aesthetic or sensory discussion: 'How does bacon feel in the mouth or in the stomach?' Or a more political debate: 'Who gets upset that we eat or do not eat bacon?', he says.

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Was happy about reader poll

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He does not take it hard if Christian Bülow or others think his art is nonsense or a waste of citizens' money.

- It varies whether people are interested in art. Not everyone thinks art is worth dealing with, he says.

He actually became happy when he saw the poll on B.T. ( https://www.bt.dk/samfund/koebenhavns-kommune-koeber-bacon-sten-noget-pjat?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AXbw80RDPIHmYo1rXJU50y3mC2EoxQIvUTevwNTMlnwszbYi20xrPMnDar5Mv0Hol2E%3D&gaa_ts=6ace2eac&gaa_sig=0no9UrAGdV7Q1IygV7n2velEUEti4a1Smrmss3JVZxxZ7t8YD7asPwK6tF7zGf5wbybLgYf00tbmdFwmqZMVZQ%3D%3D ) , which showed that 12 percent of readers thought the stones were a good buy, while 88 percent were against.

- If there are 12 percent of B.T.'s readers who can see that this work is meaningful, then I think that is pretty good, says Kasper Hesselbjerg.

Listen to Kasper Hesselbjerg and Christian Bülow discuss the artworks on P1 Morgen:

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.