Le Monument vivant de Biron

The Monument vivant de Biron is a work by German artist Jochen Gerz, inaugurated in 1996. On the former war memorial in front of a wooden hall in the French commune of Biron, in the Dordogne department, the artist randomly and anonymously placed plaques engraved with the answers of local residents to the question: "What do you think would be important enough to risk your life for?" Originally consisting of 127 plaques, this "living anti-monument" is a typical example of the work-in-progress technique, enriching itself over time with the confessions of new residents. The monument is seen as both an art object and the result of a local social and democratic process. Critically acclaimed, Le Monument vivant de Biron is a benchmark among atypical war memorials and contemporary works of art. Since the 2000s, it has been studied in France at elementary and secondary school level.

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