Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art satirized

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

and the technological

overproduction In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment. The d ...

of material goods.

Life

Born in

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () ...

, Tinguely grew up in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, and in 1941-1945 studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule. He moved to France in 1952 with his first wife, Swiss artist

Eva Aeppli Eva Aeppli (2 May 1925 – 4 May 2015) was a Swiss artist. Personal life Born on 2 May 1925 in Zofingen, Switzerland, Aeppli spent her childhood in Basel where she attended the School of Decorative Arts. Her father was a Waldorf educator and c ...

, to pursue a career in art. He belonged to the Parisian avantgarde in the mid-twentieth century and was one of the artists who signed the New Realist's manifesto (''Nouveau réalisme'') in 1960. Tinguely by Wolleh

Zürichhorn - Blatterwiese 2013-06-13 15-07-26

His best-known work, a self-destroying sculpture titled ''Homage to New York'' (1960), only partially self-destructed at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York City, although his later work, ''Study for an End of the World No. 2'' (1962), detonated successfully in front of an audience gathered in the desert outside

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Tinguely married fellow Swiss artist Eva Aeppli in 1951. In 1971 he married his second wife,

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monume ...

, with whom he collaborated on several artistic projects, such as the ''Hon – en katedral'' or ''Le Cyclop''. Tinguely died of heart failure in 1991 at the age of 66 years, in the

Inselspital The Inselspital, also named the University Hospital of Bern (German: ''Universitätsspital Bern''), located in Bern, is one of the five university hospitals of Switzerland. It is associated with the University of Bern. The hospital is operated ...

in Bern.

Public works

* ''

Chaos I ''Chaos I'' is a kinetic artwork by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely located inside The Commons, which is downtown Columbus, Indiana, United States. The work was commissioned by J. Irwin Miller, his wife Xenia Miller, and E. Celementine Tangeman ( ...

'' (1974), sculpture in The Commons, Columbus, Indiana, USA * ''Le Cyclop'' outside of

Milly-la-Forêt Milly-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region in northern France. Geology The Forest of Fontainebleau, in the western end of which Milly-la-Forêt lies, is composed of the Oligocene Fontainebleau sands, ...

. * The ''

Stravinsky Fountain The ''Stravinsky Fountain'' (French:'' La Fontaine Stravinsky'') is a whimsical public fountain ornamented with sixteen works of sculpture, moving and spraying water, representing the works of composer Igor Stravinsky. It was created in 1983 by sc ...

'' (fr: La Fontaine Stravinsky) near the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1983), a collaboration with

. * Carnival Fountain (''Fasnachtsbrunnen'') (1977) in

. * Tinguely Fountain (1977) in Basel. * Lifesaver Fountain on Königstrasse in Duisburg, Germany, a collaboration with

* Jo Siffert Fountain (commonly called Tinguely Fountain), Fribourg, Switzerland * ''La Cascade'', sculpture in the Carillon Building lobby,

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, USA * Métamatic generative sculptures (1950s) * ''Luminator'' (1991), on loan until 2014 to the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse

''Hon – en katedral''

''Hon – en katedral'' (Swedish: "She, a Cathedral") was an art installation made in collaboration with

Niki de Saint-Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monum ...

, that was shown at the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...

in Stockholm in 1966. The exhibition consisted of a sculpture of a colorful pregnant woman lying on her back with her legs wide apart. The sculpture was 25–26 meters long, about 6 meters high and 11 metres wide. It was built of scaffolding and chicken wire covered with fabric and fiberglass, painted with brightly coloured poster paint. Through a door-sized entry in the location of the woman's

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

, visitors could go into the sculpture. Inside was a screen showing

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

films, a goldfish pond, and a soft drink vending machine. Johann Sebastian Bach's organ music played through speakers. The exhibition was created by

, Tinguely and Per Olov Ultvedt. It had 80,000 visitors during the exhibition period from 4 June to 9 September 1966.

Noise music recordings

* 1963 'Sounds of Sculpture', 7'', Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan_ inguely's sculptures recorded by avant-garde composer Toshi Ichiyanagi during Japanese exhibition* 1972 'Méta', book+7_, Propyläen Verlag, Stockholm * 1983 'Sculptures at The Tate Gallery, 1982'_, Audio Arts cassette * 1983 'Meta-Harmonie H' incl. in ‘Meridians 2_ compmqenan ate a pie * 2001 'Relief Meta-Mechanique Sonore I' incl. in 'A Diagnosis' compilation, Revolver-Archiv für Aktuelle Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Influence on others

* In Arthur Penn's ''

Mickey One ''Mickey One'' is a 1965 American neo noir crime film starring Warren Beatty and directed by Arthur Penn from a script by Alan Surgal. Plot After incurring the wrath of the Mafia, a stand-up comic (Warren Beatty) flees Detroit for Chicago, taki ...

'' (1965) the mime-like Artist (Kamatari Fujiwara) with his self-destructive machine is an obvious Tinguely tribute. * Survival Research Laboratories, directed by Mark Pauline (USA) * D.A. Therrien (USA) * Prominent kinetic sculptor

Arthur Ganson Arthur Ganson (born 1955) is a kinetic sculptor. He makes mechanical art demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with existential themes. His moving sculptures have been exhibited at a number of science museums and art galleries. Ganson's wo ...

described Tinguely as his "primary spiritual artistic mentor", and paid homage to him in his work "Tinguely in Moscow".

Gallery of Works

File:Jean Tinguely's parade at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.jpg, Tinguely, ''Machines - Le Transport'', early 1960s; scrap metal components File:SE - Stockholm - Gears - 2009-07-15 (4891114084).jpg, Tinguely, ''Gears'', 1967; scrap old metal components (part of ''Le Paradis Fantastique'') File:2015 Chaotic Tuesday.jpg, Tinguely, ''Chaos I'', 1971–72; scrap metal components File:Tinguely Grosse Spirale.jpg, Tinguely, ''Large Spiral'', 1971–73; steel-plates File:Heureka (Jean Tinguely) - Zürichhorn 2013-04-13 16-21-43 (P7700).JPG, Tinguely, ''Heureka'', 1972–73; scrap metal components File:Heureka Zurich 02.jpg, Tinguely, detail of ''Heureka'', 1972–73; old components File:Basel Tinguely vor Museum.jpg, Tinguely, one piece of ''Carneval Fountain'', 1977; location: in front of

Museum Tinguely The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in the Solitudepark by the Rhine, the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect ...

, Basel File:Tinguely in Kunsthal Rotterdam 14.jpg, Tinguely, ''title unknown'', late 1970s; scrap metal components File:Tinguely-Jo Siffert Fountain Fribourg Aug 2010.jpg, Tinguely, ''

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

Fountain'', 1984; scrap metal components

References

External links

Tinguely-Museum in Basel
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060210001214/http://www.art-public.com/cyclop/cyclop_g.htm *videos: Tinguely's kinetic fountains i
Basel
an
ParisMétamatic Research InitiativeLecture by Kaira Cabañas (PhD, Princeton University) ''Homage to New York: Jean Tinguely's Destructive Art'' delivered November 20, 2008 in New York City
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tinguely, Jean 1925 births 1991 deaths Neo-Dada People from Fribourg Swiss sculptors 20th-century Swiss artists 20th-century Swiss sculptors 20th-century male artists 20th-century Swiss painters Swiss male painters Swiss contemporary artists Nouveau réalisme artists 20th-century sculptors Modern sculptors Swiss expatriates in France