Thomas leaves an impression

When introducing the footage of Thomas’ attempt, Mark says that Thomas had been inspired by a piece of art on display in Louisiana (referring to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art just outside of Copenhagen, and not the American state). Specifically, Thomas had been inspired by a 1967 sculpture by the Danish artist Poul Gernes (best known for his large-scale public art displays), which is (unhelpfully) called ‘Untitled’. However, having shared this seemingly high-brow reference with the audience, Mark then goes on to warn them to lower their expectations, or risk disappointment.

Thomas begins kneading the dough, and then inspiration strikes. He shares that he enjoys the work of the artist Poul Gernes (so much so that he owns an original Gernes creation, though his partner believes it’s the ugliest thing he owns), and so wants to replicate a specific piece by Gernes which is on display at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art: a giant imprint of Gernes’ own ass.

Thomas uses food colouring to colour a large portion of the bread dough purple and black, and then stands patiently while Mark helps to remove his trousers and then underpants for him. While Mark assists him, Thomas makes sure that the experience is as uncomfortable for him as possible, demanding that Mark make eye contact with him during the process, and then wiggling his butt around in the dough once he’s sat in it.

As Thomas stands back up, the camera operator makes sure to get a clear, close-up view of Thomas’ ass as it is slowly released by the sticky dough.

As a finishing touch, Thomas places the wax task seal in the centre of his butt imprint – presumably where his anus would had been.

In the studio, Thomas stands and takes a bow before the audience. He then says shares that he has never seen his own ass from that particular angle before, and that he wasn’t particularly pleased with what he’d seen, before admitting that it had taken two entire weeks to remove all of the food colouring from his testicles.

When Lasse questions why Thomas had insisted on Mark removing his trousers for him, Thomas truthfully replies that it was because his hands were covered in food colouring at that point, and notes that he “didn’t want to end up in a disgusting situation”.

Despite his admiration for the performance art, Lasse awards Thomas fourth place.

(Written by Jenny R and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by David Fuller)