Here's how Maurizio Cattelan's telephone confessions ended up

Maurizio Cattelan has launched a new performance project called "Hotline," a telephone confessional service running from April 2 to 22, where anyone could call a toll-free number or send a WhatsApp voice message to confess their sins directly to the artist. On April 23, Cattelan responded in a live-streamed event, symbolically absolving selected participants. The project coincides with the release of limited-edition reproductions of his iconic 1999 work "La Nona Ora" (depicting Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite), sold through Avant Arte in an edition of 666 miniature resin sculptures priced at €2,310 each, with some given as gifts to participants.

This project matters because it revives one of Cattelan's most provocative works while exploring themes of morality, power, and vulnerability in the digital age. By requiring participants to confess intimate secrets to earn the artwork, Cattelan transforms the act of collecting into a performative ritual, blurring the line between art, religion, and commerce. The timing—during Easter and the anniversary of John Paul II's death—adds layers of cultural commentary, reinforcing Cattelan's enduring role as a provocateur who challenges the boundaries between sacred and profane, public and private.