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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 discussed 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 interested 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 reciprocated 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 covenant 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
