Now that’s something you thought you would never see in a museum: a decomposing finger.
We’re not kidding. In Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, ‘living materials’, also known as bio-art, are currently on display as part of their new exhibition ‘Live and let live.’
The idea behind the exhibition is simple: everything that dies can produce something new. This is what the slowly decomposing human body part is meant to show.
Press officer, Annemarie Baaijens, of the museum tells RTL Nieuws that “the decomposition process generates energy in this way. There is no difference with, for example, an autumn leaf that decays. That provides nutrients that other organisms can live on again.”
Ok, but where does the finger come from!?
A human finger in a glass box begs the question — where on earth did a museum get that? As it happens, the finger is actually from a living friend of artist, Martin uit den Boogaard, who makes art with living objects.
Uit den Boogaard explains that his friend “had an accident, and his middle finger could not be saved.” As a result, the friend decided to donate his finger to the artist — now that’s friendship.
Yet, the process of relocating the finger from the hospital to the museum wasn’t an easy one.
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Since it isn’t exactly common to take an amputated finger from the hospital, the proposal first had to pass an ethics committee. “They said: if the patient has no objection and the surgeon gives permission, then it’s allowed,” reports Uit den Boogaard.
Something worth seeing?
Van den Boogaard has realised that not everyone is particularly enthusiastic about his work.
“This form of art is very sensitive. Someone who has had a miscarriage found my work far too confrontational. But art should question things. I find the ethical issue interesting,” he explains to RTL Nieuws.
WARNING: the below Twitter post is graphic ❗️
Hebben mensen nog grenzen en waarom mag dit? Het gaat mij te ver.
— Henriette de vreede (@1975henriette) March 1, 2023
Rottende vinger in museum: ‘We beschouwen dingen te snel als afval’https://t.co/bRzw1cOScT
Translation: Do people still have limits, and why is this allowed? It’s going too far for me. Rotting finger in museum: ‘We regard things as waste too quickly.’
Van den Boogaard isn’t the only one who wants to make a statement. Baaijens also has hopes that the exhibition will make people think. “There are crazy leaps and bounds, but you start wondering: could it work that way? And sometimes what seems like a really crazy idea is the start of something revolutionary,” she states.
Would you go see this decomposing finger at the museum? Tell us in the comments below!
Talk about getting the finger, giving the finger, flipping the finger, (what did I miss?). No I wouldn’t go to a museum to see this. If it’s an example of quirky Dutch humor, then OK. In that case, I get it.
I would like to see a rotting lul (penis).