No Parking: Austrian Artist Was Fined For Vehicular Art Installation In Karlsruhe


Artist Erwin Wurm is well known for his unusual art installations, but an overly-efficient traffic officer took exception to this particular display in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany and the Austrian artist was fined for illegal parking.

According to the German language Suddeutscher Zeitung, as part of the city’s 300th birthday celebrations, Wurm created an unusual vehicular art piece using a Mercedes transporter MB100D front chassis. He then added a rear truck section, curving up to a vertical position on the wall behind it.

Aptly named “Truck” the installation was placed on the wall of the Karlsruhe Weinbrenner house, next to the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe.

According to Wurm, he created the piece to “show the everyday from a different perspective.” However, it seems traffic cops don’t relate to such different perspectives, and the Austrian artist was fined for his trouble.

The art installation was, unfortunately, positioned in a restricted parking zone, leading one of Karlruhe’s overly-efficient traffic enforcement officers to slap a 30 euro fine on the windshield.

According to the Local, after the Austrian artist was fined, the ZKM posted images of the art installation, complete with traffic ticket, on their Facebook page, jokingly inviting Wurm to pay the fine.

However, it seems Wurm is going to get away with his illegal parking as the mayor of the city, Frank Mentrup, is going to do his best to “fix” the parking ticket so that the art installation can remain exactly where it is.

Apparently there were several other fascinating art installations to be seen at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe over the weekend, including an indoor cloud and a blue duck, and the 300th birthday event started with a spectacular display.

However, many visitors to the event are more likely to remember the unusual scene of a traffic ticket stuck on an art display, after the Austrian artist was fined for illegal parking.

In other art news, the Inquisitr recently reported that Hitler’s paintings fetched an amazing $440,000 recently on a controversial auction.

[Image: Center for Art and Media (ZKM) Karlsruhe on Facebook]

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