Inspired by Yoko Ono, Rilès blurs the lines between attachment and dispossession.
On February 12th, 2026, French artist Rilès concluded his tour at the Accor Arena in Paris with a surprise artistic performance entitled I Don’t Wanna Lose You.
As fifteen thousand people scream for an ‘encore’, a mysterious voice announces the performance – for half an hour, audience members will be invited to cut a piece of Rilès’s clothes, with the following rules given to them:
- Use the scissors on display to cut a piece of clothing and leave the scissors where you found them
- Keep the piece you cut off
- Do not stay over a minute
- Do not interact with the artist
The event followed an intense 1h40 show and completed Rilès’s artistic performance series where he had previously run for 24 hours on a treadmill, and hand-stamped 18,000 albums – both of which were free to attend in person and live-streamed on YouTube.
Inspired by Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece, Rilès questions the boundaries between attachment and dispossession, between generosity and dignity: how much can an artist give when they’ve already given it all? How much is an audience willing to take from a person they admire?
The artist stands completely still throughout the entire performance, and rules begin to bend and break – people touch Rilès, hug him, take selfies and videos, with some even daring to cut his hair.
While these acts generated major controversy on social media, Rilès stated in an Instagram Story that he took full responsibility for anything that may happen during these performances, and called to stop the hatred and backlash directed at the people who cut his hair.
Yet, in a situation where power dynamics are altered, where the artist is at the mercy of a spectator, some acts of kindness occur: people cutting their own clothes to show empathy, refusing to cut Rilès’s clothes, or even giving up their own clothes to cover his almost naked body.
The full performance is available to rewatch on YouTube, alongside a shortened version as a music video for the song I Don’t Wanna Lose You which was first revealed during the performance.
The Survival Tour, built on Survival mode and the 25th Hour, spanned eleven shows set in France, Belgium and Switzerland, where Rilès continued to explore themes of recovery, endurance, mental health and his outspoken pro-Palestinian advocacy.
