Old Folks Behaving Badly

The Guardian reports that a French appellate court ruled that 78 year old anarchist Pierre Pinoncelli did not have to pay damages in a case of vandalism concerning a Duchamp sculpture "fountain" valued in the millions-that happened to be a porcelain urinal.

Pinoncelli is alleged to have whacked the sculpture with a hammer and scrawled "Dada" on it. The lower court said that he didn't have to pay the $18,600 for repairs and $260,000 for depreciation because the Pompidou Center, the gallery hosting the exhibit of Duchamp's work didn't own the sculpture.

Mr. Pinoncelli is no stranger to the ....ahem.....appliance, however. In 1993, he was arrested for taking a leak in the sculpture and cut off his finger as an expression of solidarity with a French politician being held hostage by Colombian guerrilla fighters at the time

For those of you who are interested in the art history view of the....ahem....porcelain product that is the subject of the controversy, look no further than here.