Peter Fischli and David Weiss

http://www.spruethmagers.com/artists/peter_fischli_david_weiss@@viewq17

Fischli & Weiss are a Swiss artist duo that have been collaborating since 1979

These images grounded my idea of traces of traces and allowed me to move from constructing a mess as a part of a performance to constructing something more thought of, odd and interesting. I was influenced to make more simple creations in my room with everyday domestic objects arranged in odd and unexpected ways as part of my performance. There is mystery is these images because they seem peculiar with the way they are carefully balanced and constructed. They are exciting because the photograph is the only thing that has documented the beautifulness of the balanced objects before they collapse.   

“The Equilibres photographs are images of household objects and studio detritus arranged to form tenuously-balanced assemblages, and it is from this moment of passing equilibrium that the series takes its name. The group includes both color and black & white photographs and takes as its subtitle the phrase, “Balance is most beautiful just before it collapses.” To this end, the emphasis in these works is on the beautiful, playful, transitory arrangement of the objects in space, where chairs and brooms, cheesegraters and wine bottles are choreographed into moments of delicate suspension. The assemblages do not simply look temporary; once photographed, they were disassembled, and today these photographs are the only record of their existence.

The Equilibres photographs developed into the artists’ celebrated film, The Way Things Go, from 1987. This film records the epic chain reaction of a series of household objects like the ones found in the Equilibres assemblages, such as string, soap, garbage bags, plastic pails, balloons, and mattresses. Over the thirty minutes of the film, the viewer watches the hypnotic chain of kinetic energy pass from one object to the next, and the sculpture itself is consumed.” - Matthew Marks Gallery

http://ilikethisart.net/?p=7739