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KARINA KOPPÁNY
Musée dArt Moderne. The auctionneer is holding his gavel (hammer) and
the potential buyers’ hopes are high. It was important for the creator of the
performance not to present this event as a theatrical performance, but exactly
as a real auction — just with an out-of-the-ordinary item to bid for. The price
someone was willing to pay for Kele reached 3250 Swiss francs, which would
be worth about one million forints today or 3,250 US dollars.*? The winner, her
“fiancé”, Christian Tamet, was an artist himself, and a member of the Parisian
dance world, also a homosexual, meaning he only wanted to marry Kele on
the altar of art. Accordingly, for Tamet to marry an Eastern European artist
was a move that fitted well with the bohemian milieu he belonged to, not to
mention the tax reduction he would benefit from by marrying. However, the
whole procedure took place in the most profane way possible, as the artist also
stated: “I will not marry you, but come and buy me,” and the wedding finally
took place near the Octogon in Budapest.** Although the artwork, Judit Kele,
would have liked the conceptualization to end after the auction - and after she
was paid for - the narrative didn’t stop there. Initially, the symbolic duration
of the marriage should have lasted a minute. Judit Kele became the property of
the French man, so he had to pay: this is what Kele, Tamet and Boudaille dis¬
cussed after the auction. However, things started to get complicated because
the buyer of the artwork, the artwork being Judit Kele, started to consider
what this event really meant. Then the situation became so serious that they
felt they had to go through with it and complete it. Furthermore, Kele not only
wanted to sell herself for the purpose of moving country or getting married,
but she also wanted to know how much she was worth as an artist, and then
reevaluate her life in the light of this.”
The economic aspect ofthe marriage was taken into consideration not only
by Judit Kele but also by Christian Tamet. Ihe marriage candidate would be
entitled to a tax reduction, a marital allowance, and the future bride was inter¬
ested not only in a visa, but also in the substantial amount of money she had
earned for being an artwork. However, in reality, these monetary advantages
are not the only benefits within the institution of marriage. When two people
connect their lives, it usually brings some kind of return, which is usually re¬
ciprocated by both parties, and in this case, the purchase price of the woman
was represented by a real sum. This kind of economic element is so significant
even in the case of a normal marriage that the ritual that concludes the cov¬
enant can only be considered completed when the entire “bridal privilege” has
been paid. This is also significant because in some cultures where polygamy is
23. Agents & Provocateurs, http://www.agentsandprovocateurs.net/index. php?lang=hu.
24 Turai: Ibid.
25 Hock: Ibid., 37.
* 170