Paris, France — French contemporary artist recently exhibited his latest works to a small, well-heeled crowd in a luxury hotel in Paris offering up a performance in the process. His bright, bold and eye-catching  art work, a blend of Pop and Urban art, is displayed on 10 safes, identical safes. Their weight: identical.Their height, depth and width: identical. There is only one difference. For inside one the artist placed gold worth tens of thousands of euros. The gold was authenticated by David Knoblauch, a numismatics or coin expert and legally observed and authenticated by Charles Poncet, a registered commissioner of justice. The artist then sealed the safes. The collector cannot know if what he is buying is gold-filled or not. 

The idea behind the installation work called ,1 Million Euros of Gold…or Silence, and performance, which Mr. Honvo called Le Geste Scellé (The Gesture of Sealing), or in reality locking up, in the case of a safe, is to explore the dynamic between the real value and the perceived value of the work, the line between belief and certitude. It also can reveal something else. The collector who purchases a safe can either ask for the keys and codes to open it, or not. A way to see if they are buying art for art or art for material value. The work goes beyond the traditional framework for an acquisition to become an existential undertaking. Special to The Gourmet Gazette. https://paulhonvo.com/