We all know the phrase "find a needle in a haystack" is usually used to refer to something that is very difficult or actually impossible to do. However, one artist just proved this idiom wrong.
For his latest installation, Italian artist Sven Sachsalber attempted to literally find a needle in a haystack at the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art space in Paris. Yes, this riveting and totally not puzzling performance art saw the artist search for a tiny needle hidden by museum director Jean de Loisy in a giant pile of hay in the middle of the art gallery.
"It is a symbol of the search we are all doing for something," de Loisy told the BBC. Now that's deep.
But naysayers be damned, because he actually found it. And it didn't even take him the full 48 hours that was originally allotted to him. Performance art or not, that is pretty impressive.
#SvenSachsalber a trouvé l'aiguille ! o/ pic.twitter.com/kIzV5wc2oy
— Palais de Tokyo (@PalaisdeTokyo) November 14, 2014
Sachsalber began the search on Nov. 13 when the artist looked for the needle for 12 hours before taking a 12-hour break and then resuming the next day. If you think this all seems extreme, these kind of endurance challenges are kind of Sachsalber's thing. "His intense performative work often balances on physical exhaustion," and he is "always the protagonist in his work," according to the Palais de Tokyo's description of the performance on its official website.
He's also kind of like the David Blaine of the art world, doing all sorts of crazy stunts, excuse me, performance art in the past, such as eating a poisonous mushroom, spending 24 hours in a room with a cow and cutting down a giant tree by hand, the website also said. The Palais de Tokyo describes his work as "often funny, often serious and sometimes both."
I think this needle in the haystack performance was just funny, though I was genuinely amazed by his accomplishment. That is until I learned he's had some practice finding needles in haystacks. Sachsalber performed a version of this exhibition in 2012 called "Die Nadel im Heuhaufen," which is German for "needle in a haystack," at the Limoncello Gallery in London. Sachsalber must be something of an expert at this by now.
In case you weren't able to make it to the Palais de Tokyo to see Sachsalber's performance live, don't worry. With the power of technology, much of it was recorded live and is available to watch below. The final video shows Sachsalber actually finding the needle, which happens around the 5:40:45 mark. Now you can experience every thrilling and suspenseful moment of Sachsalber's search and ponder what it all really means.
Image: Palais de Tokyo
