living tattoo // canavarlar

bi alman filminde
vardi boyle bisey de
birazcik urkutmustu,
al iste!

ZURICH—A tattoo that
Belgian artist Wim
Delvoye inked on the
back of a young
Swiss man has been
sold to a German
collector for
$216,000, Artforum
reports via Agence
France-Presse.
According to the
terms of the
transaction, the
collector can
display 31-year-old
musician Tim
Steiner's back, now
bearing a "living
tattoo" representing
the Madonna and a
death skull, three
times a year; when
Steiner dies, the
tattoo, which took
35 hours, will be
skinned from his
back and passed on
to the collector.
The work can also be
resold, donated, or
bequeathed, like any
other work.

Jutta Nexdorf of
Delvoye's Zurich
gallery, De Pury and
Luxembourg, says the
transaction, dubbed
a "performance," is
the first of its
kind in the world.
The profits of the
sale were divided
among Delvoye,
Steiner, and the
gallery. The
percentages were not
revealed. Steiner's
back will be on
display in Singapore
and Shanghai next
week.