'' Roller Skates | A history of performance art on the Riviera from 1951 until now

Roller Skates

Creator: 
Paul-Armand Gette
Performer: 
Paul-Armand Gette
Bibliographical sources: 
témoignage d' Arman in catalogue A propos de Nice, 1977, p. 14
Producer: 
Paul-Armand Gette
Occurence: 
Description: 
Patins à roulettes (‘Roller Skates’) is not a performance. It’s a farce. I lived in Nice from 1951 to 1962. I worked in a factory and I was bored a lot. I met Malaval and Arman in a bookstore, and we hit it off right away. We saw each other regularly. We tried to pass the time as we could. One day I decided to visit the Chéret museum on roller skates. But as there were never any guards or visitors, no one paid attention. Years afterwards, Arman told the story in the catalog for the Centre Pompidou exhibit À propos de Nice (‘Regarding Nice’). All of a sudden, the story became famous. But it’s not a performance since I didn’t conceive it as such. There was no audience, nor any will on my part to perform an artistic act.

Paris, March 30, 2012
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