UN GALET UNIQUE DE LA PLAGE DE NICE (REPRODUCTION INTERDITE)
A unique pebble from the beach of Nice (reproduction forbidden)

UN GALET UNIQUE DE LA PLAGE DE NICE (REPRODUCTION INTERDITE)
A unique pebble from the beach of Nice (reproduction forbidden)

Unique beach pebble collected from the shore at Nice, designated an artwork within the Fluxus multiple by its inclusion in the boîte-catalogue. The manifest's parenthetical reproduction interdite (reproduction forbidden) operates simultaneously as literal fact (given that a pebble formed by the specific geology and hydrodynamics of the Baie des Anges is by definition irreproducible), and as institutional critique, applying the legal language of copyright and reproduction rights to an object that requires no such protection. The absurdity of forbidding the reproduction of something nature itself cannot reproduce exposes the pretension of the art world's claim to authenticity and originality. The pebble needs no certificate, no edition number, no designation. It was always unique. The legal apparatus is the joke; the stone is the punchline

Naturally occurring stone; single pebble; collected from the beach at Nice, France, 1979

Realia; Found Object