From www.artliberated.org

The Militant Graffiti Artists of Stockholm

Kidnapping and decapitating of fiber-glass cow , ( 2004 )

Art description: Swedish graffiti artists kidnapped a fiber-glass cow from the international art exhibit CowParade, held power drills to its head and threatened to "sacrifice" it unless the sculptures were declared "non-art."

Incident: Members of The Militant Graffiti Artists of Stockholm kidnapped one of the cows from the ongoing Cow Parade in Stockholm. The Militant Graffiti Artists demanded in a video cassette sent to the paper that cows which have been on display on Stockholm's streets this summer as part of the Cow Parade "be declared non-art, otherwise hostages will be sacrificed. ""We, the members of The Militant Graffiti Artists of Stockholm feel morally obligated to protect our city against the Cows that have invaded our streets. The cows are Not Art. That these cows are presented as Public Art is the biggest fraud. Advertisements can never be art. Freedom of Expression doesn’t belong to the average person anymore, only to those who have the money to buy a billboard or in this case, a cow that serves the same purpose as a billboard. We believe Freedom of Expression is threatened. Challenging the legitimacy of the of the cows in order to defend Freedom of Expression is the duty of every citizen. We have taken a hostage. We demand that the cows be declared Non-Art and that all the cows, before 12:00 August 23rd, leave our streets. We also demand walls where we Stockholmers can paint and practice our freedom of expression.If our demands are not met, the hostage will be sacrificed. Vandalism and artistic justice will be administered."

Current status: The cow was decapitated.

Opposed by: The International CowParade

Reason: Political

Palle Torsson Pippi Examples , ( 2001 )

Art description: The video Pippi Examples consisted of short sequences in slow motion from the Pippi Longstocking films made around 1970.

Incident: Before Pippi Examples was "censored" the Swedish magazine BON (nr 2. 2001) published a interview with Palle Torsson were the video was discussed alongside stills images from the video. The intention with the video was to show how the common gaze had been sexualized since 1970. A strong reaction from daily newspapers and the people involved with Pippi Longstocking started a debate. The issues were the moral implications of the video and the copyright. Swedish Film Industry (SF) announced that they promised to stop the video and the news spreed outside of sweden. SFs lawyers took action to stop the video via the Swedish court of law. Based on they copyright law they claimed the video was illegal. Palle Torsson tried to pursue the case but took the decision not to fight SF consider more then 1 million dollar in costs for the trial. In the end a settlement was made and all the copy’s of Pippi Examples were destroyed.

Current status: This does not mean that the project Pippi Examples is over. A book about the process and/or other material will available soon. The video, the debate and aftermath in general of Pippi Examples will be analyzed to try to deepen the understanding of what happen and why. Stay updated at http://www.palletorsson.com !

Opposed by: SF (Swedish Filmindustry)

Reason: Copyright

Carl Johan de Geer SKÄNDA FLAGGAN (Desecrate the flag) , ( 1967 )

Art description: Serigraphy’s display at Gallery Karlsson in Stockholm one with a burning Swedish flag with the text KUKEN (the cock) on and the text “SKÄNDA FLAGGAN VÄGRA VAPEN, SVIK FOSTERLANDET, VAR ONATIONELL” (desecrate the flag, refuse weapon, fail the country, be antinational). And one with the American flag were the stars were replaced with swastikas and with the text USA MÖRDARE (USA murderer).

Incident:The Serigraphy was confiscated and destroyed by the police. De Geer was convicted by the court of appeal for desecration the national symbol and for agitation.

Current status:Recently some of the Serigraphy has found there way to the Swedish auction houses and has been sold for a considerably high value.

Opposed by: Swedish authorities

Reason: Desecration of the national symbol