Morbid Art Shocks Paris

An incomprehensible screed of words carved by a grief-stricken schizophrenic French farmer into his bedroom floor has become Paris's most controversial new art exhibit. Since the Plancher de Jeannot (Jeannot's Floorboards) went on display last week, it has created an unprecedented stir. The carving - 80 lines of text, in capital letters with no punctuation - contains references to Hitler, to Popes and to an infernal machine that controls humans. The journey to artistic fame of the 24ft by 9ft oak floor is as strange as its message. In 1966, Jeannot opened fire on his neighbours' dining room, after voices had told him to kill them. When a doctor committed Jeannot to a mental institution in 1967, a team of 30 gendarmes could not get him out of the house. In December 1971, a local vet found his mother dead in her armchair. Jeannot insisted she should be buried under the kitchen stairs, with a ball of wool, knitting needles and a bottle of wine. Seven months after his mother was buried under the stairs, Jeannot starved to death. For the full story - click the title Irish Art