Perpignan: more than 400,000 euros for the sundial which no longer tells the time

The bill is steep for “Solart2”, the giant sundial located at the northern exit of the Perpignan motorway (Pyrénées-Orientales) and which no longer gives the time since 2019 and the bivouac of the Yellow Vests which vandalized then burned this galvanized steel arrow machined in Barcelona to last a hundred years…

It was the metropolis of Perpignan which paid the first bill of 350,000 euros for the work imagined, manufactured and installed in 2014 by Marc André de Figuères, known as MA2Figuère, a Catalan figure in contemporary art.

It was again the metropolis which covered the following bills: legal fees, travel costs for stakeholders and various handling costs including 24,000 euros of crane to store the giant dial in a public warehouse...

“Solart2 was poorly insured, as if it were a lamppost and not a work of art”

“In total, we can estimate that the work will have cost more than 400,000 euros.

It's a real waste, especially since

was poorly insured, as if it were a lamppost and not a work of art.

Because of this bad contract, the Metropolis only received 60,000 euros after the deterioration instead of an envelope of around 400,000 euros, not including meeting hours.

And the elected officials refused to vote for the necessary credits to restore and reinstall it,” laments MA2Figuère who today considers himself deprived of the representation of his artistic expression.

Ultimately, the two parties, the metropolis, owner of “Solart2”, and MA2Figuère have just reached a settlement agreement against the payment of 60,000 euros in damages to the artist.

So as not to add the ridicule of a court hearing to the financial mismanagement.