PARIS - A French artist has struck an unusual deal to sell his latest work: instead of paying up front, the buyer will hand over a regular fee until the artist dies.

Christian Boltanski said his deal with Australian gambler David Walsh was a "game" with the devil - but not a pact.

The work involves four video cameras filming Boltanski's studio in Paris, day and night, from January until his death, with images relayed live to a cave in Tasmania, Australia.

"This man [Walsh] thinks he can beat the odds and he says he never loses," Boltanski, 65, said at the studio in Malakoff, in the southwest suburbs. Anyone who never loses or thinks he never loses must be the devil."

Rather than paying for the work in one lump sum, Walsh will make regular payments until Boltanski's death.

Walsh, a professional gambler, worked out he would make money if Boltanski dies in the next eight years.

"If I die in three years, he wins. If I die in 10 years, he loses," Boltanski said. "He has assured me I will die before the eight years is up. He's probably right. I don't look after myself very well."

- AFP