But the problem behind Entropa, which has caused great controversy among the EU member states, was that there is only one creative mind, that of David Cerný. The other 26 artists were simply invented by the Czech. In other words they did not exist!
This was not the only problem though. The uproar caused by the 16-sq.metre eight-tone mosaic currently hanging over the atrium of the Justus Lipsius building of the EU Council in Brussels and which was supposed to be inaugurated on Thursday, January 15, was unprecedented. The work is a direct insult to the sense of European political correctness and a living proof that EU bureaucrats are clueless when it comes to art.
Cerný’s notorious ensemble of country map-shaped installations has managed to embarrass the Czech presidency, which is directly accused as responsible for the controversy by angry member states. The installation is reducing Greece to a huge fire, Romania into a Dracula castle, while France is portrayed as a hollow country permanently on strike, Spain as a slab of concrete and Italy as a soccer field scattered with men holding footballs very close to their groins. Belgium appears as a chocolate box, Denmark constructed with Lego, the Netherlands as a plethora of mosques engulfed beneath the water, Poland as a bunch of monks erecting a gay flag, Bulgaria as a complex network of Turkish toilets, Germany as a suspicious arrangement of autobahns, Luxembourg as a lump of gold for sale and the map of Sweden below a box that looks like the ones Ikea uses. The UK, fittingly, is nowhere to be seen, though there does appear to be a vacant area in the top left corner.
At first glance, Entropa looks like a project to decorate official space, which has degenerated to an unhindered display of national traumas and complexes. Individual states in the European Union puzzle are presented by non-existent artists. They have their names, artificially created identities, and some have their own Web sites. Each of them is the author of a text explaining their motivation to take part in the common project. That all was created by David Cerný and his associates, Kristof Kintera and Tomas Pospiszyl, with the help of a large team of colleagues from the Czech Republic and abroad.
Czech Deputy Prime Minister, Alexandr Vondra, has confessed feeling "surprisingly sorry" after discovering that the only author of Entropa is Cerný and not 27 artists, as had been stipulated in the contract with the artist. "David Cerný is the only person responsible for not fulfilling his commitment", said Vondra, who added that the Czech presidency is analyzing what to do with the installation already in place.
Meanwhile, Cerný, known for his sculptures such as Freud hanging in the middle of the streets in Prague or for painting a rose on a Soviet tank, has laughed all along and said that he wanted to prove "that Europe could laugh at itself".
Cerný recognizes that he knew the truth would come out and says that economic restrictions and lack of time motivated him to do the whole work by himself. His original intention was indeed to ask 27 European artists for participation, he claims. 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.