A reflection on the passing of time, Personnes is one of the links in the chain of memory, of this “memory with a small M” that defines the fragile singularity of each, of which the Archives du cœur project forms an immense compendium. Christian Boltanski invites each visitor to MONUMENTA 2010 to record his own heartbeat in a booth set aside for this purpose. Continually broadcast, these heartbeat recordings by the public will be part of the Nave's sound space and add to the permanent Archives du cœur compendium the artist is collecting. If he so wishes, the visitor may keep a recording burned on CD.

Since 2005 Christian Boltanski seeks to collect heartbeat recordings around the world, to bring together all the hearts of mankind. A truly universal project, these Archives du coeur will be kept sheltered from the effects of time on the Japanese island of Teshima, in the Inland Seto Sea, made available by a philanthropist. Like many of Christian Boltanski's works, such as Les 6000 Suisses Morts (“The 6000 Dead Swiss”) or Les Annuaires, a collection of telephone books from the entire world over, these archives result from a multitude of individuals drawn out of their anonymity by the force of a symbolic and artistic evocation. Confronting the passage of time, the din of great history and crowds of solitary individuals, they exorcise the brutal contradiction assailing each individual, threatened in his fundamental singleness by his passing and an unavoidable oblivion.

The heart, symbol of life, becomes the universal mediation bringing together all men and which “photographs”, in a matter of speaking, each individual. Through Teshima – the island where the hearts of all humankind are brought together – Christian Boltanski wishes to create a modern myth. Facing the unavoidable passage of time, Christian Boltanski escapes from the traditional Western means of transmission, which is more attached to the object as a relic, to create in the inspiration of Eastern tradition, which prefers passing on knowledge by legends and myths.

In this sense, with the Archives du cœur, Christian Boltanski offers us the opportunity to participate in the creation of a living, resolutely modern legend. It is this new symbolic function of art that the visitors to the Grand Palais exhibition are called to discover, in this way participating in the most ambitious of the artist’s creative works.

A booth for recording visitor heartbeats will be in the paddock passageway in the Grand Palais. A CD recording may be made for all visitors who wish to have one.