Foundation of Doubt

Backed by the Nice-based visual and performance artist Benjamin Vautier (« Ben »), in 2013 the foundation of doubt came into being in the Blois art school and music conservatory (6, rue Franciade). The opening occurred twenty years after the artist's initial exhibit in Blois, the « Wall of words »: a retrospective consisting in 300 panels of his most celebrated text-based paintings, which were displayed on the facade of the artistic teaching hub.

The « foundation of doubt » concept originated in a desire to create an art project center that would not only host artists, researchers and theorists, but also facilitate dissemination of creations and meetings between different publics. In this building, you will discover the spirit of Fluxus, a movement initiated in the 1960s by the Lithuanian artist George Maciunas; among its most eminent representatives were Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono and ... Ben. It is characterized by doubt and questioning: What is this thing called art?
The mechanics of doubt, which are what render this site so singular, permeate the permanent collections of 300 works by 50 artists that Ben has put together over the years, with the complicity of other noted collectors such as Gino di Maggio. The foundation of doubt also hosts temporary exhibits in its Pavilion, and features a free « Fluxus » café and, open to one and all, a shop, a library, and very much more.