Touching the objects is strictly forbidden at museums worldwide, but visitors are encouraged to handle the art at an exhibition, which opened yesterday (16 September) at La Monnaie de Paris. The curators of Take Me (I’m Yours), even hope that most of the works will be taken away by the end of the show (until 8 November).
The exhibition has been co-organised by Hans Ulrich Obrist, the co-director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the French artist Christian Boltanski. The pair initially launched Take Me (I’m Yours) at the Serpentine Gallery in 1995. Participating artists included Gilbert & George, Wolfgang Tillmans and Douglas Gordon.
These artists feature again in the new version which includes 44 participants in total. The German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann is giving out postcards of the Eiffel Tower; the Lebanese poet Etel Adnan has made cards decorated with the names of poets; distilled rose water with holy wafers comes courtesy of the Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija.
The Polish artist Angelika Markul will produce wishbones on a 3D printer; there is also pink paper confetti bearing the words "Be Quiet" made by the late US sculptor James Lee Byars. Other pieces are participatory: people are invited to write their personal wishes and tie them to the branches of Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree (2015), while people may well rest their weary limbs on a settee (Couch by the late Austrian artist Franz West).
Chiara Parisi, the director of cultural programmes at La Monnaie de Paris, says: “Just like currency, the works are destined to be dispersed. This is what is suggested by the title of Christian Boltanski’s piece Dispersion, which encourages the public to leave the exhibition with a bag filled with clothes.” A press statement adds that the show “will present a model based on exchange and sharing, thus raising questions about the exchange value of art, an issue of fundamental importance to Monnaie de Paris”.
La Monnaie de Paris, which is located opposite the Louvre, has been based at the Quai de Conti since 1775. Euro coins are minted at a sister site in Pessac, in southwest France, but La Monnaie produces collector coins, art objects and jewellery.
