An exhibition to die for—literally

[GalleryAdmin]

The German artist Gregor Schneider is planning the ultimate performance piece: showing a person dying as part of an exhibition.

“I want to display a person dying naturally in the piece or somebody who has just died,” he told The Art Newspaper. “My aim is to show the beauty of death.”

The artist says that Dr Roswitha Franziska Vandieken, who runs her own private clinic in Düsseldorf, has agreed to help find volunteers who are willing to die in public in the name of art. Dr Vandieken was unavailable for comment. “I am confident that we’ll find people to take part,” says Schneider.

He says he would like to stage the performance at the Haus Lange museum in Krefeld, Germany. The museum declined to comment.

Schneider says that if the museum will not agree to take part, he will stage the piece in a studio space in his hometown of Rheydt, western Germany.

Schneider has long been fascinated with the idea of showing death in a museum setting: in 2000 he himself feigned death as part of an exhibition at the Haus Esters museum in Krefeld (left).

The artist, who is known for his unsettling installations, currently has an exhibition at La Maison Rouge in Paris (until 18 May) which consists of a series of rooms of decreasing size. Visitors enter alone and, after progressing through a series of spaces, end up in a completely dark room. They must find their own way out and are filmed throughout.

What are your views?

[Monika Macken]

Dying is a very personal, intimate drama, that has NOTHING to do with art. Dying is saying farewell to everything what makes life worth to be lived, like art for instance. Gregor Schneider does NOT do this because death fascinates him, but because he wants the media to talk about it. Let's put HIMSELF in a museum while he is dying: is he ready for this experience?????

[John Woodruff]

Well said Monika, I agree with you completely. I'm not sure how watching someone take their last few breaths in this world can be inturpreted as 'art', although maybe watching a sicko like Schneider croak it might come close, (just kidding)!

[Poh Lai LIM]

It is a sickening idea to me of what Gregor Schneider calls art. As a viewer point of view, I would not want to see the departure of life and see dead or dying body(ies) in the museum or or anywhere out of funeral services. If people want to see how people die, they can always look through the window of critical condition rooms in any hospitals or to see the dead body, one can always visit funeral services at the same time to pay homage.

No cheerful or right-mided person would enjoy seeing dying/dead body, unless one has no choice because of relative or friends who have passed away but to pay his/her last respect to the deceased person.

Is Schneider so love to see dying people so much and thought others might enjoy as well??? If yes, he better goes for brain check before is too late.

There is no dignity of deceased person who shows himself dying on the public domain or museum. Any curious visitors will go round the dying person and talk about how s/he suffers, etc. I am sure the dying persons have no peace to die in such a manner. I have heard many dying people wanted and chose to die at home so that they would die peacefully. Why the dying persons did not choose to die in hospital or public place? It is the comfort of home and no museum and hospital can give peace than home.

[Fred Grube]

I am the devil's advocate so I need to say this about that:

The art of dying has been around for thousands of years. It would take all night to give just a fraction of examples of it in all forms of art. ( I think Kavorkian video taped his last assisted suicide; art or not.)

The way some people live their lives they would be better off dead. The art of dying, it's intent, is to awaken people so they may improve the quality of the way they live. The still life on the livingroom wall won't do it.

[Poh Lai LIM]

Good thing you realized that you are a devil's advocate.

I won't call suicide as the art of dying or quality term art for anything there is degrading. As you said it has been around for thousands of years, therefore, nothing news and nothing great at all. I also won't call suicide as an art whether video it or not because the act of suicide does not contribute to any quality terms. I don't think the person who recorded the process of suicide via video camera had an intent to use it as an art, but rather to assist police investigation and to make their job easier with evidence, and dead person did not want to implicate his close contacts/friends/family members, that's why they left behind an evidence.

No, not all witnessing of dying will help to improve the quality of the way they going to live. I have seen so many forms of dying; in hospitals, on the road, comitting suicide by jumping from very high floor, etc. Just give some examples here:
If you see a person died after a happy dinner, or while laughing with his colleagues/friends/relatives in sitting posture, does it contribute to improve the lives of witnesses? Obviously, no.
If you see a person dying of lung cancer because of heavy smoking for many years, that might caution the smokers to smoke less or quit smoking, and improve his quality of healthy lifestyle.
If you see car accidents, sometimes is avoidable because of human fault --> this can be prevented by implementing a solution and come out a preventive measure, and sometimes it was fated to die or time to die, no way to be avoided at all.
If you see someone jumping from high floor intended to kill himself, it shows the guy who committing suicide has no way out, or very heavy debt so chose to escape in such manner, or negative thinker, he suffers mind blockage, etc. It is a very shame of dying! Not the art of dying!!
If you see someone slowly kills himself, say smoking is one of the slowest forms of committing suicide or does harmful things to him/herself. A healthy minded person will react that such person does not know how to treasure his body.
If you see a dead body, if it makes you sad and depressed, how does it improve the quality of the way you live? Maybe, sooner or later the depressed person will have to admit in the lunatic hospital.

I disagree with you that Still Life on the living room wall won't improve the quality of the way they live. We can't generalize things, not all still life paintings won't do that. Say still life of fruit painting, if hung on the wall, it reminds the residents in the house to take more fruits, it does contribute to quality and healthy of their lifestyle. Say another painting on the wall its subjects is about healthy foods and the artist painted it so appetizing, it helps to improve your appetite whenever you look at the still life painting, it does contribute to a healthy and quality way of life. There are many more examples of paintings which enhance the life of owners of the painting.

To conclude, there is a rubbish term called the art of dying. If dying can be called the art of dying, then walking on the street, sitting in the office/at home/cafe and running on the road/sport centre are call the art of walking/sitting/running. Even we allow to call them the art of running/walking, they are living art, and Not dead art which you called the art of dying! I won't be interested to see dead 'arts' unless I have to pay homage to a deceaced person.

[Fred Grube]

I guess if there was a point to this, you have missed it. "If you are not busy being born, you are busy dying." Dylan

[Poh Lai LIM]

You are quite humorous.