The Sleeper: final days!

In a week, the next opening comes to Museum.

Collectors call the gallerist. They announce their great interest in the piece, even if they wish to take some time to think about it. They suggest that the gallerist stay in touch and out of goodwill she urges them to visit Museum, so that they can talk specifics. The collectors hang up and seek advice from more informed people: critics, curators, artists, institutional directors. They use all of their capacity for abstraction to visualize the piece among the other pieces in their collections. They call the gallerist again to inform her of their continued consideration.

All of a sudden, a collector is ready to purchase The Sleeper.

What? He’s buying it as it is, he’s buying it now, he’s buying it alive, he’s ready to bring in a mover at once so they can wrap it and bring it to the stockroom where his private collection sleeps. A collector makes it clear he has money to spend, other collectors do too – they can find nothing better to do than compete with each other, which raises the starting price. But that collector is still ready to pay the highest price. He seems to bestow a lot of importance on The Sleeper entering his collection. He’s very determined and very well-off.

The time to finalize the sale is now or never. Eleanor and Andy had originally thought about selling the film. But how do you sell a film that’s in the process of being filmed? The exhibition is in its sixth week, the Sleeper is still sleeping, and it is imperative that it be taken down in less than twenty-four hours. In twenty-four hours someone will come to clean and paint a coat of white on the walls. And so begins the hanging of the next exhibition. After thinking about it, Eleanor decides to sell the piece in its state, John in the act of sleeping and being filmed. And Andy, what does he say about it?

Eleanor: Andy hasn’t said anything, you know him, we broke the news of our idea to him, he just went hm hm, that’s all he was inspired to say, and to us hm means yes, and yes means we sell, so we’re selling.

And The Sleeper is sold.

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