Action instead of auction

Auction of Flatz tattoos canceled

The skin auction came to nothing after all.(Bild: Flatz.net)

Much ado about nothing? Not quite: the Vorarlberg artist wanted to have his skin auctioned off at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich on Thursday evening. But a Swiss man threw a spanner in the works. Nevertheless, the evening turned into an event. 

The planned action by the artist Flatz had already caused quite a stir in the run-up to the event. After all, he wanted to auction off his skin. More precisely, his tattoos. These were to be preserved after his death and hung on the wall like works of art. The auction, it was said, was organized by Christie's. The auction was to have taken place as part of the opening of the Flatz exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne. 

Swiss collector in action
But that never happened. Although around 1000 interested parties were present, the General Director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Bernhard Maaz, concluded his opening speech by announcing that the auction had been canceled. The reason is no less curious: a Swiss collector had insisted in advance on acquiring all 13 tattoos. Apparently his wish was granted. 

Consolation prize
Nevertheless, there was a consolation prize for the numerous visitors: Flatz finally took to the stage - dressed in a bathrobe. Finally, he climbed onto a rotating presentation surface, dropped the robe and spun around on his own axis for several minutes.