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Banksy Would Be Proud

In a feat that would make Banksy proud, members of Untergunther, who the Guardian calls “cultural guerrillas“, restored the antique clock at the Panthéon [link to http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Pantheon/ no longer works]. They spent about a year, beginning in September of 2005, in a hidden workshop, dismantling and rebuilding the entire clockwork which had been abandoned in the 1960s. They were never discovered despite having taped into the electrical and network systems.

Getting into the building was the easiest part, according to Klausmann. The squad allowed themselves to be locked into the Panthéon one night, and then identified a side entrance near some stairs leading up to their future hiding place. “Opening a lock is the easiest thing for a clockmaker,” said Klausmann. From then on, they sneaked in day or night under the unsuspecting noses of the Panthéon’s officials.

Their presence only became known when they revealed themselves so the curators would know to wind the clock. This is far from the first project Untergunther has undertaken.

Klausmann and his crew are connoisseurs of the Parisian underworld. Since the 1990s they have restored crypts, staged readings and plays in monuments at night, and organised rock concerts in quarries. The network was unknown to the authorities until 2004, when the police discovered an underground cinema, complete with bar and restaurant, under the Seine. They have tried to track them down ever since.

So keep an eye on the news, you never know where they’ll pop up next.

Originally published by arthur on 26 Nov 2007
Last modified on 12 Jul 2017
Categories:   Amusements   art   Security