The staff of the Budapest Police Headquarters’ Public Order Department noticed on 2 April 2021 at 7:30 a.m. that a man had punched a statue on Ferenc Square in the IX. district in Budapest twice with his fist. As a result, the statue fell from its pedestal and was damaged. The 32-year-old man was caught by the police on the spot and brought to the District IX Police Headquarters. The man is being prosecuted on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Béla Incze, the man who punched a sculpture called The Prism gave the following statement to the police in connection with the case: “I committed the act, but I dispute that it is a criminal offence. The act is a reaction, which is a moral minimum for every European, but especially for Hungarian people.” The artist, Péter Szalay has conceptually included the demolition of the sculpture in the work – and so the performativity it triggers. As he said in an interview before the inauguration, he expected the sculpture to become a local political issue. “From my point of view, it’s good because it raises the attention of the press, and so to the subject, the work and, finally, for art.” “No problem, I actually expected it to be axed,” said Szalay, when asked if he was afraid that someone would damage his work.

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