New Zero
Exhibition View
Piero Manzoni / John Nixon
Henk Peeters
Jef Verheyen
Jesus Rafael Soto
Martial Rayisse
Jean Tinguely
Jean Tinguely
Do-it-yourself-sculpture, 1961
Constructed by Henk Peeters following Jean Tinguely's instructions
Fabric on wood, metal
60 x 60 x 5 cm
In the fifties, the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely started to design reliefs, assemblages of objets trouvés and useless machines;
Tinguely became increasingly interested in ways of combining individual elements and especially in the element of movement. His 'Do-it-yourself sculpture' are to be understood from this point of view. "With this plan I challenge you to construct this image or to have it constructed and to consider the precisely executed result as an original work by me" is the unusual instruction on the certificates that come with the Do-it-yourself sculptures.
The Do-it-yourself-sculpture shows geometrical shapes applied to a square black ground. The first association that occurs is a reference to Malevich's black square. A motor hidden behind the support can make the abstract signs turn noiselessly around their axis. The work of art is constantly redefined by the movement. The process of movement means that no definite commitment can be reached. This produces "endless series of combinations, encounters, partings, coming together again, constant change." (Pierre Restany, 1959)
more works in the Daimler Art Collection:
Jean Tinguely: Méta-Maxi
Sculpture on the Potsdamer Platz, Berlin