Gregor Schneider

According to reports in April, 2008, controversial German artist Gregor Schneider is seeking a volunteer willing to live out the last moments of his or her life on display in a museum or art gallery.

The concept

Schneider claims that Dr. Roswitha Franziska Vandieken, who runs a private clinic in Düsseldorf, Germany, has agreed to help him find a patient willing to die in the name of art. If he can not find a gallery or museum that will agree to host the exhibit, he plans to stage the piece in a private studio space in his hometown of Rheydt.

Backstory

The artist gained critical acclaim with a sculpture of a dead woman, titled Hannelore Reuen. He also won an award for his installation, Totes Haus u r, in which portions of his childhood home were relocated and altered, with rooms that rotate on their axis and a labyrinthine arrangement of halls and doors that lead to dead ends. Schneider has been altering the house, both in situ and in mobile exhibitions, for over twenty years.

Quotes

1. "I want to display a person dying naturally in the piece or somebody who has just died."—The Art Newspaper
2. "My aim is to show the beauty of death."—The Art Newspaper
3. "Unfortunately today, death and the road to death are about suffering. Coming to terms with death — as I plan it — can take away the pain of dying for us,"—CBC.ca

Fast Facts

1. Born: Rheydt, Germany
2. Looking for a gallery to host macabre exhibit
3. Contemplating the death exhibit for over 10 years
4. Won Lion Award for sculpture "Dead Haus Ur," in 2001

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