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14
VIDEO PERFORMANCE / EVENT
VIDEO
PORTRAIT OF A COLLECTOR IN REAL TIME
ESPACE
PIERRE CARDIN, PARIS
JUNE 1974
This
project parodies the esthetic conventions (the formal portrait)
and mercantile rituals (the auction) of the art world and
explores the critical potential of real-time media. In the
highly ceremonial setting of a public auction conducted under
the gavel of Jean-Claude Binoche, the artist begins work on
his advertised “Video Portrait of a Collector”
precisely when bidding on the unfinished work itself gets
underway. From a spot on the platform normally reserved for
the lot being auctioned off, he mans his portable video camera,
panning quickly about the room to record each new bid. In
other words, the “portrait” in question is originally
nothing more than the video recording of the bidding war among
its putative “collectors.” The taping ends in
a close-up of the person who has finally managed to outbid
his rivals; however, according to the terms of the sales contract,
the portrait is not officially finished, nor is it delivered
to the buyer, until the collector has offered further evidence
of his “good taste” by having himself filmed on
the same tape, in close-up, eating several complete meals.
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