Town outraged over chaos house
THE ARTS
Town outraged over chaos house
Charles Bremner
September 19, 2006
CRASHED aircraft, fire-blackened walls, a swimming pool of blood and portraits of Tony Blair and Osama bin Laden adorn a sprawling “shrine to chaos” which is at the centre of a dispute in a village on the outskirts of Lyon in France.
To the anger of the mayor and some residents, the Lyon appeal court last week recognised the 2.5-acre Demeure du Chaos (Abode of Chaos), the project of an internet millionaire, as a work of art and allowed it to remain standing.
Thierry Ehrmann, 44, the owner and creator, was fined E200,000 ($A336,000) for failing to seek planning permission to turn his 17th-century coaching inn and its grounds in the village of Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or into a theatre of war. The appeal judges annulled a lower court order to have the site, developed by 45 European artists, restored to its original state.
Ehrmann’s celebration of the apocalypse, inspired by his experiences in the Middle East and by the events of September 11, 2001, has enraged residents who are offended by its charred walls, twisted metal, burnt-out cars and battlefield debris. A mock oil platform sits on one roof amid camouflage netting. The garden includes a sculpture recreating the remains of the World Trade Centre.
“I have to pass by it every day. It’s morbid. It’s horrible,” Monique Nietto, a neighbour, told Le Parisien. “Ehrmann has completely destroyed a magnificent property.”
The locals call the site “Grozny on the Cote d’Or”.
Pierre Dumont, 70, the mayor, who brought the suit against Ehrmann, is now appealing to the country’s highest court, which can overturn the verdict only on technical grounds. “It stuns me and sickens me. The law is obviously not the same for everyone,” he said. Ehrmann’s “morbid and aggressive” site had blighted the village, which has 1000 residents, he added.
Ehrmann, who occupies the house with his two Great Danes, Saatchi and Reuters, said that the ruling was a victory for art. The mayor was helping to publicise a site which has become the most visited free open museum in France, he added. “We get about 90,000 people a year,” he said. Little was visible from the outside, he added.
Ehrmann, whose fortune mainly comes from artprice.com, the international art valuation site which he founded, is supported by a local MP. Officials in the culture ministry are considering having his Demeure listed as a recognised art work. “The judges have confirmed that this is unquestionably a work of art, and have clearly shown their will to protect a unique and singular creation,” he said after the appeals ruling.
The Times
copyright ©2006 The Australian
La « Demeure du Chaos » de nouveau au coeur des polémiques
A la Une > Actualités > Etat et collectivités
La « Demeure du Chaos » de nouveau au coeur des polémiques
Le parquet général de Lyon vient d’introduire un pourvoi en cassation contre la décision de la Cour d’appel de Lyon pour le maintien en l’état de la «Demeure du Chaos», désormais célèbre œuvre d’art controversée qui enfreint le code de l’urbanisme. Un pourvoi qui ravive la polémique.
La «Demeure du chaos» : suite. Quelques jours après l’autorisation de la Cour d’appel de Lyon du maintien en l’état de la «Demeure du Chaos», le parquet général de Lyon annonce l’introduction d’un pourvoi en cassation contre cette décision. « Nous nous sommes pourvus en cassation avec la commune de Saint-Romain au Mont d’Or » (Rhône), où est située la «Demeure du Chaos», a déclaré Jean-Olivier Viout, procureur général de Lyon.
« Je n’ai rien contre cette demeure , a précisé Jean-Olivier Viout. Mais l’attendu selon lequel il s’agit d’une oeuvre d’art pose problème : est-ce que la justice est compétente pour décider de ce qu’est une oeuvre d’art ? » Et d’ajouter : « Il nous paraît utile que la Cour de cassation se prononce sur cette question juridique ».
De son côté, le propriétaire de la demeure a regretté samedi ce pourvoi en cassation. « Ce choix ranime la polémique et détruit l’apaisement que l’arrêt apportait », estime Thierry Ehrmann dans un communiqué, soulignant que « le pourvoi fait par la mairie est regrettable par son obscurantisme face à l’Art ».
18/09/2006
copyright ©2006 Bati-Actu.com
“Demeure du Chaos”: le parquet de Lyon se pourvoit en cassation
“Demeure du Chaos”: le parquet de Lyon se pourvoit en cassation
AP | 16.09.06 | 16:33
LYON (AP) — Le parquet général de Lyon a décidé de se pourvoir en cassation contre l’arrêt rendu mercredi par la cour d’appel de Lyon qui a autorisé le propriétaire de la “Demeure du Chaos”, une oeuvre d’art controversée en infraction avec le code de l’urbanisme, à la laisser en état.
“Nous nous sommes pourvus en cassation. La commune de Saint-Romain-au-Mont d’Or (Rhône), où est située la Demeure du Chaos, devrait en faire autant dans les jours qui viennent”, a déclaré Jean-Olivier Viout, le procureur général de Lyon, joint par téléphone. Il souhaite que la Cour de cassation se prononce sur la capacité de la justice à déterminer s’il s’agit bien d’une oeuvre d’art.
La “Demeure du Chaos”, ancien relais postal du XVIIe siècle, est située à Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or, dans la banlieue chic de Lyon. L’homme d’affaires Thierry Ehrmann, patron d’un site Internet de cotation en ligne, a entrepris de “déconstruire” sa maison en 1999.
Au fil des ans, la “Demeure du Chaos” s’est fait de plus en plus imposante. Une quarantaine d’artistes, dont le célèbre Ben ont participé, à transformer la bâtisse en symbole apocalyptique, aux murs noirs recouverts de portraits de terroristes, les événements du 11-Septembre accélérant son processus de “déconstruction”.
Le maire de la commune de Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or a saisi la justice en 2004. En première instance, le TGI de Lyon lui a donné raison, en obligeant Thierry Ehrmann à redonner à sa maison son aspect d’origine. Le PDG d’ArtPrice a ainsi été condamné le 16 février dernier à 120.000 euros d’amende et “à procéder au rétablissement des lieux dans l’état antérieur”. Il avait immédiatement fait appel.
Mais la cour d’appel de Lyon a estimé mercredi que la “Demeure du Chaos” est une oeuvre d’art qui peut rester en l’état.
Son propriétaire, le milliardaire Thierry Ehrmann, a toutefois été condamné à payer une amende de 200.000 euros pour avoir effectué les travaux sans autorisation préalable. AP
copyright ©2006 Le Nouvel Observateur
La Demeure du Chaos / Abode of Chaos
La Demeure du Chaos / Abode of Chaos
Sunday September 17th 2006, 3:11 am
Filed under: politics, news, photos, events, people, stories, art/culture/design
abode of chaos
For several months now, we’ve been following, with fascination, the story and news about La Demeure du Chaos (Abode of Chaos). I’ve been calling it The Chaos House.
Located in a small village called Saint-Romain-au-mont-d’or, France, just north outside of the the city of Lyon, The Abode of Chaos is a collective and complex art piece by Thierry Ehrmann and a group of international artists. This “residence” is made up of 2,500 works that cost Mr. Ehrmann approximately 5 million dollars, which was spent (over a period of 7 years) to transform the 17th century stone house into what is now La Demeure du Chaos / The Abode of Chaos. There are giant black and white paintings of the faces: Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, Ariel Sharon and others (Mr. Ehrmann notes that Terrorism has many faces); the garden keeps large sculptures: a model of the remains of the World Trade Center, crashed helicoptors, a pool filled with blood, an oil platform sits on top of the roof. It expresses many bold statements related to the state of the world, humanity, war, politics, religions, hatred, terrorism. It is a collective set of opinions. It is artistic expression.
Since it’s such a striking piece of artwork due to its content, which also extends to the outside of the walls of the Abode, it creates a striking contrast with the rest of the village.
The drama that surrounds it is also part of the work, much like performance art with everyone contributing as participants. The work has been a topic of much controversy, particularly from the village’s mayor, Pierre Dumont. He finds such a work ugly and intolerable, and does not consider it art at all, so he decided to take Mr. Ehrmann to court to try to have the Abode dismantled. Last June, the court ruled in favor of the village’s mayor, and ordered Mr. Ehrmann to pay a fine and to restore the house to its original state. Mr. Ehrmann made an appeal (this included a petition of 54,090 signatures worldwide by people in support of the Abode), and the final verdict was announced just a few days ago. This time, the court fined Mr. Ehrmann 200,000 euros ($253,360) for property violations but ruled that the residence would be allowed to exist in its current state. In fact, the Abode was declared a unique, artistic work of the 21st century by the Court of Appeals.
As part of the Journées européennes du patrimoine / European Days of Pride (September 16 and 17), The Abode of Chaos is opening its doors to the public today from 3pm to 7pm.
La Demeure du Chaos (Musée l’Organe)
69270 Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or FRANCE
Website: La Demeure du chaos / Abode of Chaos
Email: contact@demeureduchaos.org
Photo Galleries: Photos of the Abode of Chaos (this set contains photos of all of the works since 1999)
copyright ©2006 Why travel to France
Welcome to the House of Chaos
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Welcome to the House of Chaos
By Jen Wainwright in Paris
Published: 17 September 2006
The village of Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or, near Lyons, has several historical monuments of which its citizens are rightly proud. But they are distinctly less happy with the Demeure du Chaos (Home of Chaos), an open-air “museum” created by eccentric resident Thierry Ehrmann.
Since 1999, Mr Ehrmann, 44, has developed the two-and-a-half-acre site into an apocalyptic work of art. The grounds of the once-elegant house are dominated by an enormous reconstruction of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. A helicopter lies destroyed in the front garden. Portraits of Osama bin Laden adorn the outer walls. A swimming pool is filled with water the colour of blood.
Inside the 17th-century house, the walls are also decorated with scenes of chaos. “There we have Chernobyl, here the Armenian massacre, over there Guantanamo Bay,” Mr Ehrmann explains.
What is it for? “When we settled here we realised we were in grave danger of becoming bourgeois,” he said. “All that remains of the bourgeois condition should be drowned in a state of permanent warfare.”
The house, which is regularly opened to the public, provokes strong reactions. Some love it, some hate it. Mayor Pierre Dumont wanted it demolished, claiming it was in breach of local planning laws. But after two years of legal wrangling, the Lyons appeal court rejected the Mayor’s complaints. Three appeal judges decided the site had artistic merit and was therefore partially exempt from planning laws.
An earlier judgment that parts of the museum should be destroyed was set aside. However, Mr Ehrmann was fined €200,000 (£135,000) for exceeding legal height limits. Mayor Dumont was disappointed. “What has become of the law if what is forbidden for some is permissible for others?” he said.
Mr Ehrmann, founder of a company specialising in the distribution of legal databases, is said to be the 307th richest man in France. He was jubilant despite the heavy fine, claiming that he had achieved a “victory over obscurantism”.
The village of Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or, near Lyons, has several historical monuments of which its citizens are rightly proud. But they are distinctly less happy with the Demeure du Chaos (Home of Chaos), an open-air “museum” created by eccentric resident Thierry Ehrmann.
Since 1999, Mr Ehrmann, 44, has developed the two-and-a-half-acre site into an apocalyptic work of art. The grounds of the once-elegant house are dominated by an enormous reconstruction of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. A helicopter lies destroyed in the front garden. Portraits of Osama bin Laden adorn the outer walls. A swimming pool is filled with water the colour of blood.
Inside the 17th-century house, the walls are also decorated with scenes of chaos. “There we have Chernobyl, here the Armenian massacre, over there Guantanamo Bay,” Mr Ehrmann explains.
What is it for? “When we settled here we realised we were in grave danger of becoming bourgeois,” he said. “All that remains of the bourgeois condition should be drowned in a state of permanent warfare.”
The house, which is regularly opened to the public, provokes strong reactions. Some love it, some hate it. Mayor Pierre Dumont wanted it demolished, claiming it was in breach of local planning laws. But after two years of legal wrangling, the Lyons appeal court rejected the Mayor’s complaints. Three appeal judges decided the site had artistic merit and was therefore partially exempt from planning laws.
An earlier judgment that parts of the museum should be destroyed was set aside. However, Mr Ehrmann was fined €200,000 (£135,000) for exceeding legal height limits. Mayor Dumont was disappointed. “What has become of the law if what is forbidden for some is permissible for others?” he said.
Mr Ehrmann, founder of a company specialising in the distribution of legal databases, is said to be the 307th richest man in France. He was jubilant despite the heavy fine, claiming that he had achieved a “victory over obscurantism”.
copyright ©2006 The Independent
«La Demeure du Chaos» en cassation
LYON
«La Demeure du Chaos» en cassation
20 Minutes | édition du 18.09.06
Un nouveau round judiciaire sur l’avenir de la controversée Demeure du Chaos aura bien lieu. Le parquet général de Lyon et la commune de Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or ont annoncé avoir introduit un pourvoi en cassation contre la décision de la cour d’appel de Lyon qui avait autorisé le maintien en l’état de cette maison du xviie siècle transformée en décor apocalyptique post-11 Septembre. Dans un arrêt rendu mercredi dernier, la cour avait condamné Thierry Ehrmann, propriétaire de La Demeure, à 200 000 euros d’amende pour avoir enfreint le Code de l’urbanisme. Mais elle n’avait pas exigé la remise en état des façades noircies et ornées de portraits de terroristes, estimant que cela nuirait à l’unité de l’oeuvre d’art. « Est-ce que la justice est compétente pour décider de ce qu’est une oeuvre d’art ? », s’interroge le procureur général Jean-Olivier Viout. « Ce choix ranime la polémique et détruit l’apaisement que l’arrêt apportait », a regretté Thierry Ehrmann dans un communiqué.
Frédéric Crouzet
copyright ©2006 20 minutes
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