Christian Boltanski makes art about death and dying – specifically about Holocaust-related death and dying.

He’s quoted saying, “My work is about the fact of dying, but it's not about the Holocaust itself," even though he uses pictures of people who died in the Holocaust and installs them in museums like a shrine. I guess we just have to blindly believe him on this one.

Boltanski says he has been trying “to fight against the fact of dying” all his life. Not sure how successful one can be trying to fight death. Everyone knows death and taxes are the only things that are guaranteed in this life, but we commend him for the effort. He was successful at saving his own life, though. When Boltanski was highly depressed, he decided it would be a chill idea to send someone else’s suicide note to 60 people. He called it “Mail Art” entitled Handwritten Letter “asking for help” but we call it an incredibly sinister cry for help or a misguided prank. You can imagine the repercussions this must have had…a lot of negative ones and just one positive one – Boltanski didn’t end up killing himself. 

Handwritten Letter “asking for help” is pretty much exactly the vibe of Boltanski’s work and personal life. In 2014, Boltanski made a deal with professional gambler and art collector, David Walsh, that if he paid a monthly stipend to Boltanski until the end of his life, Walsh could install cameras in his studio and was entitled to all of the footage that was made. “If I die in 3 years he made good business. If I die in 7 years it’s awful for him," said Boltanski. As it’s now 2017, Boltanski better die pretty soon for Walsh to get his money’s worth.

When he’s not placing bets on his own lifespan, Boltanski is making art about religion and religious persecution, specifically that of the Jewish people. “For Boltanski, having grown up in France with the knowledge of his father hiding in fear during the occupation, the reality of genocide was never far nor forgotten.” Boltanski is also concerned with museums becoming too church-like. In an effort to combat this, Boltanski and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist designed an entire exhibition made up of things you could take with you when you left. Titled Take Me (I’m Yours), the exhibition “aim[ed] to create a democratic space for all visitors to take ownership of artworks, and curate their personal art collections, by subverting the usual politics of value, consumerism, and the museum experience.” The thought behind this exhibition was most likely of an existential nature, but it meant free stuff, for which we are always grateful!