The artist insisted that the pieces not be boxed up or roped off, which may have worked well in a dedicated arts venue, but in a mixed heritage site/local museum/visitor attraction it just attracted the wrong kind of attention.
A visiting group of French students were very loudly and clearly instructed by their group leader to not touch anything - she even gave instructions in English, so we'd know the students had been warned.
After the kids left the room, she tentatively went to touch a piece herself, until she saw someone watching her -_-