French artist emerges after spending week inside a rock

PARIS – A French artist has spent a week in a hard place: a rock.

Abraham Poincheval emerged Wednesday from a 12-ton limestone boulder at a Paris art gallery where he has been entombed since Feb. 22.

A body-shaped hole large enough to sit in was hollowed out inside the rock, and air entered through holes. Poincheval was supplied with water, soup and dried meat for the ordeal.

On Wednesday, workmen pulled apart the two halves of the rock and Poincheval gingerly climbed out. He made a V-for-victory sign as two men helped him to a chair at the Palais de Tokyo gallery.

“It’s this strange feeling of a floating world, an incredible floating in this mineral capsule,” he said after undergoing a post-experiment medical exam.

“Yes, there are very strong moments of getting dizzy, where the world is shaking monstrously,” he continued. “It’s a moment of happiness, it’s a gift, but at the same time one must stay clear-headed. There are very strong moments where you lose yourself, where suddenly you don’t know anymore where you are.”

Poincheval specializes in endurance-testing solitary performances. He once spent 13 days inside a hollowed-out bear.

His next performance will involve sitting on eggs in an attempt to hatch them.