Jeannot’s Floor, Paris

Standing outside of St. Anne’s Hospital center in Paris, you will find Jeannots Floor. This controversial piece was taken from the farm house of Jeannot L’Bernais, in the south of France.

Before it was gifted to the hospital in 2005, it was displayed at various art exhibitions. Both intrusive and intriguing, this was something I had to see for myself.

Jeannot’s history

The farmer’s life is commonly and best described as a tragic one.

Whilst growing up, he was physically abused by his father who then went on to commit suicide in 1959, when Jeannot was 20 years old. Soon after this, Jeannot started to show signs of extreme paranoia and anger. He had began to unravel and on one occasion fired shots into a neighbour’s dinning room under the command of unseen voices. In 1967, Jeannot was committed to a mental institution but he became so violent, they were unable to remove him from his home. So from then on, he never left the house and stopped working. In 1971, Jeannots mother unfortunately passed away. She was found by a local vet in her armchair. Jeannot insisted she be buried under the stairs with her knitting needles, a ball of yarn and a bottle of wine. (This actually happened but unfortunately I can’t find any information on whether she’s still there) Wanting to be close to her, Jeannot moved his bed downstairs into the dinning room. On the oak floor boards of his new bedroom, he began to carve the infamous floor on display today. With a knife and a hand drill he carved the message which is as strange as it is fascinating.

Seven months after his mother’s burial, Jeannot died of starvation.

Here is a translation from Google, it’s a bit of an uncomfortable read.

A RELIGION INVENTED MACHINE CONTROLLING THE BRAIN OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS AND AN INVENTION WITH A VIEW OUR VIEW FROM RETINAL IMAGE EYE ABUSED IDEAS WE HEALTH FAMILY MATERIAL PROPERTIES DURING SLEEP WE ARE ALL CRAPULERIE THE CHURCH AFTER KILLING JEWS TO HITLER WANTED TO INVESTIGATE A TYPICAL AND DEVILED TRIAL TO TAKE THE POWER OF THE WORLD AND IMPOSE PEACE ON WARS THE CHURCH MADE CRIMES AND ABUSE OF US BY ELECTRONICS MAKING US TO BELIEVE STORIES AND BY THIS TRUQUAGE ABUSE OF OUR INNOCENT IDEAS RELIGION COULD MAKE US ACCUSED BY TRUQUING LISTEN OR WRITTEN POSITIONS AND INVENTING ALL THINGS WHICH THEY HAVE WANTED AND SINCE 10 YEARS BY ABUSE OF US BY THEIR BRAKE CONTROL INVENTION AND TO SEE OUR VIEW FROM REAL IMAGE OF THE EYE TO MAKE US ACCUSED OF WHAT WE HAVE TO OUR INSU IS THE RELIGION THAT HAS MADE ALL THE CRIMES AND DAMAGES AND CRAPULERIE WE IN INVENTED AN UNKNOWN PROGRAM AND BY MACHINE TO ORDER BRAIN AND SEE NOT OTRE IMAGE VIEW RETINE EYE

WE HAVE TO BE ACCUSED … WE ARE INNOCENT OF ALL CRIME … TORT TO OTHERS WE (NOT TRACKED) JEAN PAULE ARE INNOCENT WE HAVE NO KILL OR DESTROY NOR DOES TORT TO OTHERS IT IS THE RELIGION THAT INVENTED

A TRIAL WITH ELECTRONIC MACHINES TO ORDER THE BRAIN SLEEP THOUGHT BETTER DISEASES WORK ALL THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN WE ACCUSED OF CRIMES WE DO NOT NAVIGATE THE PROOF THE POPES SAY JOHN XXIII INSTEAD OF XXIV FOR ME PAUL VI FOR PAUL

THE CHURCH WANTED INVENTING A TRIAL AND COVERING MAQUIS OF NEIGHBORS OF MACHINES TO COMMAND THE BRAIN OF THE WORLD AND SEEING THE IMAGE VIEW OF THE EYE KILLING JEWS IN HITLER HAVE INVENTED CRIMES OF OUR TRIAL

With such a open window to the mind of a schizophrenic, it can be upsetting for a lot of people to see how bad those suffering can get without help. Personally, I find it all very interesting but I can understand why a lot of people want it taken down. With such a hard life and total isolation, it’s terrible to imagine what Jeannot must have been going through. The floorboards must of have taken months of hard labour showing how strongly his beliefs truly were. Many people think the display is good for the hospital as it encourages those suffering from mental illness to get the help they need. I’m not so sure myself, what do you think?