A controversial Norwegian artist known for spray-painting from his butt, peeing on stage, and throwing stools at audiences was recently revealed to receive generous windfalls from public funds.
Vegard Vinge is thought to have received up to $37M NOK or $4M USD over a 12-year period from the Norwegian taxpayer.
Videos of his performances caused outrage on social media.
According to local news source, Nettavisen:
In the video, the artist sprays paint out of the ass, then uses a long paint brush he controls using the anus to spread the paint across the canvas.
The above mentioned video was a clip taken from a 12-hour theatrical performance delivered in Berlin.
Alongside his co-host, Ida Muller, his eponymous foundation has been awarded the generous payments from Norway’s Cultural Council.
The funds are believed to have covered production costs, wages, and other sundry expenses.
Over the next four years, the foundation is expected to receive a slightly higher annual figure of $3.4M NOK–around $370K USD.
The Cultural Council reportedly justified the allocation of funds on the global impact of the foundation’s artists.
At a lengthy performance held at the Ibsen Theater in Bergen, a member of the audience, who couldn’t stomach the whole performance recalled Vinge, in one scene, crawled across the floor while being whipped.
As he crawled across the floor he ‘must have turned on his back and urinated into his own mouth.’
As he crawled on, another member of the audience said he could clearly see feces flowing out of Vinge’s buttocks.
