Title: Whoever buys my work goes to heaven
Artist: He Liping
Materials: Act of prayer, courier company, greeting cards
Dimensions or size of piece: Adaptable
Date of production: 2013
Duration of piece: 40 years (unless terminated due to circumstancesbeyond my control)
Procedure:
1) The procedure of this piece will vary according to the conditions ofthe performance space of each event. The procedure for this event goes asfollows: Prepare and set up a photocopier with 14611 sheets of A4 copy paper, inthe live art space continuously photocopy the message ‘whoever buys my workwill go to heaven’ in Chinese.
2) The performance element comes into play if or when someone agrees tobuy my work. On purchasing my work I will then, every day for the next forty yearsof my life, pray for them and send off a greeting card to them expressdelivery.
3) My piece is the 40 years of service to this person and the consistentdaily sending of a greeting card. The photocopying at the event is merely anopening or lead-in to the piece.
Terms and Conditions:
1)If an individual collector or an institution wishes topurchase this piece the price is 1.461 million Yuan (Chinese Renminbi, aftertax), in addition there is a service fee of 100 Yuan Renminbi (after tax) everyday.
2)All tax expenses generating from the purchase andownership of this piece are to be paid for by the collector.
3)If a collector purchases this piece through aninstitution or gallery, payment of any expenses that result from thisarrangement are the responsibility of the collector.
4)To purchase this piece a collector must pay the fullprice up front.
5)The costs of postage and delivery of the greetingcards over the next forty years will be paid for by the purchasing party.
6)If in the next 40 years due to uncontrollablecircumstances the artist should die, the contract will naturally be terminated.None of the fees will be refunded.
7)If in the next 40 years the artist fails to complywith the conditions of the contract due to personal reasons within his control,the collector has the right to terminate the contract, and to demand thereimbursement of the fees from the remaining years in the contract.
8)With the exception of circumstances outside of theartist’s control the artist has no power to terminate the contract at will, ifthe collector wishes to terminate the contract, none of the fees arerefundable.
9)The artist will retain receipts from the courier companyas evidence of his upholding of the agreement, if for any reason there is adelay in the delivery of the greeting card due to the courier company, theartist will not be held responsible.
10)The collector accepts the risks resulting fromunforeseen circumstances.
11)The collector must provide the artist with his/hercontacts details and mailing address, if there is any change to these detailsit is the responsibility of the collector to notify the artist promptly. If asa result of providing incorrect or out of date information the collector isunable to receive the greeting cards on time, they are responsible.
12)If the collector wishes to sell this service on toanother party they need to inform the artist, and provide the contact detailsand mailing address of the new owner. The fees and costs that arise fromdealings between different collectors have nothing to do with the artist, theartist will provide the same service to the new owner. The time period of theservice is 40 years, in the event that the service is sold on to another owner,the time of service of the previous owner will be deducted from the total of 40years.
13)If the collector should, due to uncontrollable circumstances,die, the service can be passed on to an inheritor, if the collector has notspecified who will inherit the service, the service will naturally cease.
14)As time goes on, should the piece remain with about abuyer, the artist will adjust the price and duration of the piece every threeyears.
15)If there are any outstanding issues not mentioned inthe terms and conditions they should be negotiated by the artist and thecollector.