Disgraced OCAD Student On Life After Fake ROM Bomb

Former OCAD student Thorarinn Jonsson spoke with The National Post in an article today that discusses his life 11 months after the brouhaha he created.

Jonsson was made infamous for his Fake Bomb art project outside the Royal Ontario Museum last fall, for which he was granted a discharge in a Toronto courtroom last month.

In this Q&A, he says he hopes to come back to Toronto. "I'm so in love with Toronto. I wish they were more positive towards me."

Jonsson's now studying at the Icelandic Art Academy, where he's up to more mischief.

He talks of a piece he did in Reykjavik that created a bit of a stir, albeit of Icelandic proportions:

"I rented this massive speaker system and I took it to the top floor of the schools' office building, in downtown Reykjavik, and five times a day I played the Muslim call to prayer.

"There was one Saturday morning, when it went off at dawn, and you're not supposed to make noise before 8 so a lot of people woke up. So the police were called, and the school had me shut down the piece."

This piece of "art" supposedly "reflected the way the idea of Muslims has entered popular consciousness. Kinda like changing your middle name to Hussein, but with his own perverted artistic vision I guess.

Still, he considers his fake bomb art piece his finest work to date.

Are you glad Jonsson has left the Toronto art scene? Or do you wish his return, bringing along his take on recontextualized art to the our city once again?

Photo by Roger Cullman.