French artist entombing himself in rock to hatch eggs

By Kately Miller

法國有一個行為藝術家，曾經把自己塞在毛絨玩具熊肚子里過了兩周，還曾經鉆進一個巨大的軟木塞瓶里漂流過河，這一次他要封閉在一塊石灰巖里長達一周，還準備用自己的體溫孵化雞蛋。然而他表示最大的夢想是行走在云端，果然是敢想也敢做。

A French artist is preparing to be entombed （埋葬；葬入墳墓）for a week inside a 12-ton rock in a modern art museum in Paris,after which he will appear and attempt to hatch a dozen eggs by sitting on them for weeks on end.

“I think of it as an inner journey to find out what the world is,”said Abraham Poincheval,who lately hollowed out a hole in the rock just big enough for himself to fit inside.He once spent two weeks inside a toy bear.He buried himself under a rock for eight days and navigated （航 行 ）France's Rhone river inside a giant bottle.He also played at being a human mole （鼴鼠）,and crossed France on foot in a straight line with a friend.

But curator Jean de Loisy,of the Palais de Tokyo museum where Poincheval's “Stone” and “Egg” performances are being held,insisted that his work should not be regarded as stunts（特技表演）but as a series of mystical journeys.Instead they are deep meditations（沉思）on “inner exploration,on modifying（修改；改變）the self and of living in other fields beyond our own,”De Loisy said.The artist said he had spent months mentally and physically preparing himself to smoothly go through the life inside the rock,where he would sit up with his arms outstretched.

Holes have been bored in the rock for air and cables for a heart monitor and emergency telephone line.Poincheval said all he would have to eat during his entombment would be a little dried meat and boxes of soup and other liquids.The only mystery was how he went to the toilet,for which the artist became uncharacteristically evasive（回避的；閃爍其辭的）when pressed on the subject.

Loneliness should not be a problem,he said.When he was buried under a rock outside a gallery in the southern city of Marseille,former prisoners who had been in prison came to keep him company and a young girl talked to him about the violin she had just bought three hours before.

In reality,so many people came to talk to“the stone”that security guards had to be stationed around the rock at night so he could get some sleep.“The real challenge this time might be having to leave the rock after the week”,Poincheval admitted.After previous performances,the end was always what he called“delicate”,marked by a day in the dumps...and a lot of turbulence（騷動；混亂）inside.“It took several weeks to get back to normal”,he said.

His next performance “Egg” will begin in a short period,with Poincheval sitting on a dozen eggs for between three and four weeks until they hatch.He will eat a special diet rich in ginger（姜； 生姜）so he could keep the eggs at a minimum of 37℃,with only a half an hour break every 24 hours to keep him from breaking down.

“The chicks that hatch will go and live with my parents”,Poincheval added.

But his ambitions do not end there.His big dream is to walk on the clouds.“I have been working on it for five years,but it is not quite there yet,”he added.

在巴黎的一家現代藝術博物館，法國行為藝術家亞伯拉罕·伯安什瓦爾要在重達12噸的石灰巖里生活一周。一周之后，他會從石頭里出來，然后用身體孵化12個雞蛋一連數周直到小雞出殼。

他在這塊石頭內部鑿出了一個僅夠他容身的空間，并且表示：“我把這次表演當作是了解世界的心靈旅程。”他曾在玩具熊肚子里生活了兩周。他將自己埋在一塊巖石下八天，還曾待在一個巨大的塞瓶里沿著法國羅納河漂流。他還曾像鼴鼠一樣生活，也曾和朋友徒步直線穿越法國。

伯安什瓦爾這場“石頭”與“蛋”的表演是在東京宮博物館開演的，該館館長讓·德·路易西堅持認為，與其說他的表演是作秀，不如說是一系列神秘之旅。館長表示：“這些表演譜寫了一部關于心靈探索、自我修正、在異空間生活的沉思錄”。伯安什瓦爾表示，到時候他將張開雙臂坐在石頭里。為順利度過石頭里的生活，他花了數月時間進行心理和生理上的調整與準備。

這塊大石灰巖上已經鉆了一些孔給伯安什瓦爾透氣，也連好了電纜，以方便進行心臟監測和撥打求救電話。伯安什瓦爾告訴我們，他待在石頭里的這一周，只會吃一點肉干和盒裝的湯和飲料。唯一搞不懂的便是他怎樣解決如廁問題，每每有人問及此，他就一反常態地閃爍其詞。

他說，孤獨不是個問題。他之前在法國南部城市馬賽的一家畫廊外，被埋在巖石下面的時候，有曾經坐過牢的犯人過來陪他，還有個年輕女孩曾與他聊起了她三小時前剛買的那把小提琴呢。

實際上，有很多人慕名前來與這塊“石頭”聊天，為了讓伯安什瓦爾可以睡會兒覺，保安夜間還得在他附近駐守。伯安什瓦爾也承認，他這次表演最大的挑戰，便是在石灰巖里待了一周后重返正常生活。他還告訴我們，以前表演結束后，他最終的感受往往是“脆弱”，“心情抑郁又躁動不安，要緩好幾周才會恢復正常”。

他的下一場名為“孵蛋”的表演將于近期開始，伯安什瓦爾會坐在一打雞蛋上，坐上大約三四個星期直到小雞破殼。 因為他得讓雞蛋保持在至少37攝氏度，所以他到時會攝入一種富含生姜的特殊膳食，而且他每天僅僅只有半小時的自由休息時間。

伯安什瓦爾補充道：“這些孵出來的小雞將由我的父母來照看?！?/p>

然而他的野心并不止于此。

他解釋道：“我最大的夢想是有一天可以在云端行走。我為此研究了5年，但目前還不成熟?！?/p>