Homage to New York
| Homage to New York | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Jean Tinguely |
| Year | 1960 |
Homage to New York was a 1960 kinetic artwork and performance by Jean Tinguely.
Description
Homage to New York was a kinetic artwork composed of found mechanical parts including multiple bicycle wheels, a weather balloon, a piano, a radio, an American flag, a bassinet, and a toilet, all painted white. In its first and only performance in the New York
sculpture garden on March 17, 1960, the machine whirred to life with the sounds and smells of its mechanical motion. The sculpture was split into sections that would activate at different times, slowly turning the overall sculpture until, in its climax, the machine would destroy itself. In one section, the piano played while glass bottles dropped from above, shattering and releasing noxious odors. A youth go-kart scurried in front of the sculpture.[1]
Production
In February 1960, Museum of Modern Art curator for painting and sculpture
Tinguely intended for the work to reflect the excess and overabundance of modern living. Christina Chau described it as a "spectacle of abundance, from abundance" that produced nothing besides "motion".[1]
References
Bibliography
- Chau, Christina (2017). Movement, Time, Technology, and Art. Springer. ISBN 978-981-10-4705-3.
Further reading
- Byron, William R. (April 21, 1962). "Wacky Artist of Destruction". Saturday Evening Post. 235 (16): 76–79. EBSCOhost 18166975.
- Carrick, Jill (2010). Nouveau Réalisme, 1960s France, and the Neo-avant-garde: Topographies of Chance and Return. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6141-2.
- Hulten, K. G. Pontus, ed. (1968). The Machine: As Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age. The Museum of Modern Art. pp. 168–171.
- Landy, Michael (2009). "Homage to Destruction". Tate Etc. No. 17. ISSN 1743-8853. Archived from the originalon May 25, 2018.
- Klik, Ella; Kamin, Diana (2015). "Between Archived, Shredded, and Lost/Found: Erasure in Digital and Artistic Contexts". Media–N: Journal of the New Media Caucus. 11 (1): 86–92. ISSN 1942-017X.
- "Tinguely's Contraption". ISSN 0027-8378.
- Tomkins, Calvin (January 10, 1962). "Beyond the Machine". ISSN 0028-792X.
- Wolff, Rachel (April 6, 2011). "A Homage to a Homage, Destruction at Its Core". ISSN 0362-4331.
