Le Monument vivant de Biron

About

The Biron Living Monument is a work by German artist Jochen Gerz, inaugurated in 1996. On the old monument to the dead located in front of a wooden hall in the French commune of Biron, in the Dordogne department, the artist randomly and anonymously placed plates on which are engraved the answers of the inhabitants to the question: "What would be important enough, in your opinion, to risk your life?" Originally made up of 127 plaques, this "living antimonument" is a typical example of the technique of work in progress, enriching itself over time with the confessions of the new inhabitants. The monument is considered both an object of art and the result of a social and democratic process at the local level.

Recognized by critics, The Biron Living Monument is a reference among monuments to atypical deaths and works of contemporary art. Since the 2000s, he has been studying in France at the elementary and college levels.