The EU gets hoaxed by a Czech artist, David Czerny, who created a mosaic of cartoon images representing each of the European nations, according to Sarah Lyall in the New York Times. The 172-square-foot, 8-ton work is called Entropa:

In the case of “Entropa,” Mr. Cerny presented the piece as the work of 27 artists, one from each country. But it was all a huge hoax.

After being challenged by reporters this week, Mr. Cerny admitted that he and two of his friends constructed the whole thing themselves, making up the names of artists, giving some of them Web sites and writing pretentious, absurd statements to go with their supposed contributions.

For example, next to the piece for Italy — depicted as a huge soccer field with little soccer players on it — it says, “It appears to be an autoerotic system of sensational spectacle with no climax in sight.” [ . . . ]

As for Mr. Cerny, on his Web site he said, “We knew the truth would come out.”

He added, “But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself.”

A Hoax Unites Europe in Displeasure (New York Times)