PORTRAIT OF THE POLICEMAN AS AN ARTIST

Wellington: A police bust on a Hamilton art gallery to remove 2g of
cannabis from an exhibition had created "living art at its best," Green MP
Nandor Tanczos said yesterday.

Police confiscated the marijuana on Friday, two weeks after the "Smells
Like Art" exhibition opened.

It was reported last month that Platform01 - a gallery run by Waikato
Institute of Technology graduates - had reached a new art high by
displaying a cannabis bud as part of the exhibition.

Police removed the cannabis from the gallery after receiving a complaint
from a member of the public, Detective Sergeant Chris Page said. No charges
were laid.

Platform01's curator, Laurie Steer, said more than 200 people visited the
gallery - most because they heard marijuana was being exhibited.

"They took our art," he said.

"It's popular culture. It has to be there or else we ignore a huge part of
our society."

Mr Tanczos, who campaigns on cannabis reform, said art graduates and police
had collaborated to create a significant piece of social art.

"This is living art at its best, breaking the boundaries between the art
community and the police," he said.

"Who would have thought the police contribution to the collaboration would
be such a perceptive critique of the absurdity of cannabis prohibition?" - NZPA