Artist Willing To Destroy $45 Million of Art In Support Of Julian Assange
An artist in the south of France is planning to destroy up to $45 million worth of art, including pieces by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Andy Warhol, if Wikileaks founder Julien Assange dies in prison, British broadcaster Sky News reports.
Andrei Molodkin says he has put masterpieces that have been donated to him in a 29-ton safe hooked up to two barrels - one containing an acid powder and the other containing an accelerator - which, when pumped into the safe, will create a reaction strong enough to destroy all its contents, Sky News says.
The project is called "Dead Man's Switch," and it is backed by Julien Assange's wife, Stella. Assange is currently in jail in the U.K. awaiting his final appeal over extradition to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act, which will take place later this month. Wikileaks published thousands of leaked documents relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Assange is alleged to have conspired to obtain and disclose U.S. national defense information.
The Wikileaks founder denies any wrongdoing, and his lawyer says his life is at risk if he loses his appeal.
"In our catastrophic time - when we have so many wars - to destroy art is much more taboo than to destroy the life of a person," Molodkin, who is originally from Russia but now lives in France, told Sky News. "Since Julian Assange has been in prison... freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of information has started to be more and more repressed. I have this feeling very strongly now."
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