AURIGNAC: French performance artist Abraham Poincheval on Friday stepped out of a giant wooden statue in the shape of a prehistoric man wearing a lion skin, after spending seven days trapped inside.
Poincheval had to stay in a sitting position inside the 3.2-metre (10 foot 6 inch) high sculpture in the gardens of a museum of prehistory in Aurignac, southwestern France.
He had 20 liters of water as well as dry meat to live on, and a small opening allowed him to see whether it was day or night, and to speak to people.
Poincheval said he had found it hard to sleep. “It was very intense, quite amazing … It’s demanding, yes, more demanding than I thought.”
The Museum of the Aurignacian said the event had attracted 1,000 visitors, some of whom spent time reading stories to the self-described “claustrophile” artist.
Poincheval is no stranger to living in enclosed spaces. In 2014 he spent 13 days inside a hollowed-out bear sculpture, and in 2017 had himself confined inside a rock for a week. Shortly afterwards, he spent three weeks sitting on chicken eggs to incubate them until they hatched.
