MANILA, Philippines – Do you find it annoying when your earring falls and you have to go down on all fours to look for it? This performance artist seems to have a different undertaking on the concept of “finding things.”
Sven Sacselber did what most performance artist do, find the thin line between brilliancy and insanity. As part of the installation at the Palais de Tokyo gallery in Paris, Sacselber tried to literally find an actual needle in a real haystack for two days. The act is called, literally “finding a needle in a haystack.”
The New York-based Italian artist sifted through the grass and found the needle hidden by Palais de Tokyo gallery President Jean de Loisy deep in its center.
#SvenSachsalber a trouvé l'aiguille ! \o/ pic.twitter.com/kIzV5wc2oy
— Palais de Tokyo (@PalaisdeTokyo) November 14, 2014 The task is intriguing, but there is more to that than simply attracting the attention of the people. The act is also about exploring the deep and complicated relationship between words and actions.
'I don't think there is anyone, regardless of whether they like modern art or not, who would not be intrigued by this childish question -- can it actually be done, or is "Searching for a needle in a haystack" simply a turn of phrase?' De Loisy said to Dailymail UK.
Catch the stream of Sachselber’s performance below.
YouTube (Fabien Magnenou)
Previous performances done by Sachsalber include a day sitting in a room with a cow and sawing off branches as he sat in a tree.