Dane Acquitted in Goldfish Blender Case

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003May19.html

Dane Acquitted in Goldfish Blender Case


The Associated Press
Monday, May 19, 2003; 10:52 AM


COPENHAGEN, Denmark - The director of a Danish art museum was acquitted on charges of animal cruelty Monday after a court said a display with goldfish in 10 blenders that visitors could turn on, wasn't cruel.

Peter Meyer, director of the Trapholt Art Museum in Kolding, drew international notoriety in February 2000 after the art exhibit, featuring the goldfish, was dubbed cruelty to animals.

The display's blenders were plugged in and visitors were invited, if they wanted, to blend the fish. Somebody did and two goldfish were ground up.

Animal rights activists complained and the exhibit continued after the blenders were unplugged. Danish police fined Meyer $315 for animal cruelty but when he refused to pay it, the case went to court in Kolding, 125 miles west of the capital, Copenhagen.

Judge Preben Bagger said Monday that Meyer didn't have to pay the fine because the fish were killed "instantly" and "humanely."

During the two-day trial, experts including a zoologist and a representative of the blender manufacturer, Moulinex, said the fish likely died within a second after the blender started.

It wasn't known who turned the blenders on.

The installation was the work of Chilean-born Danish artist Marco Evaristti. Beside the blenders, the temporary exhibit also included a nude picture of the artist with blackened eyes and a bazooka missile surrounded by tubes of lipstick.

The Trapholt Art Museum is one of hundreds of small art galleries in the Scandinavian country of 5.3 million, and draws about 80,000 visitors annually.