In the mid-1950s

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art s ...

began production of a series of

generative Generative may refer to: * Generative actor, a person who instigates social change * Generative art, art that has been created using an autonomous system that is frequently, but not necessarily, implemented using a computer * Generative music, mus ...

works titled Métamatics: machines that produced art works. With this series of works Tinguely not only problematised the introduction of the robotic machine as interface in our society, but also questioned the role of the artist, the art work and the viewer. ''Metamechanics'' (French ''méta-mécanique''), in relation to

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, describes the kinetic sculpture machines of Jean Tinguely. It is also applied to, and may have its origins in, earlier work of 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 (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

art movement. Jean Tinguely created his Métamatic sculptures between 1955 and 1959. These sculptures are modelled in a way that resembles the aesthetics of the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The drawings they produce resemble, but also mimic mid-century gestural abstraction. The abstract drawings are produced by means of a motor-driven arm that holds drawing implements of the viewer’s choosing against a piece of paper. The result is a random composition of lines and dots in colours chosen by the user. His most famous Métamatic, no 17, was created especially for the 1959

Paris Biennale The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

. This piece, which was driven by a small engine, served as a prototype for Tinguely’s later large-scale, self-destructing pieces. The Métamatics and their artistic output brought Tinguely a new level of fame and notoriety and helped launch his career outside Europe. Tinguely’s first major exhibition of these works took place in 1959 at Galerie Iris Clert in Paris, which included a competition for the best drawing made on a Métamatic, with a jury of well-known figures in avant-garde Parisian art circles at the time, including

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

Yves Klein Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein w ...

and

Pierre Restany Pierre Restany (24 June 1930 – 29 May 2003), was an internationally known French art critic and cultural philosopher. Restany was born in Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda, Pyrénées-Orientales, and spent his childhood in Casablanca. On returning ...

. Four thousand Métamatic drawings were made and at least five to six thousand people attended the exhibition. Even producers of the kind of gestural abstraction imitated by the Métamatics, such as

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...

, attended. The success of this exhibition led to Tinguely’s first exhibition in the United States in 1960 at the Staempfli Gallery in New York, in which he presented five Métamatic sculptures. Tinguely's Métamatics were part of a wide range of artistic activities in the late 1950s and into the 1960s that questioned the role of the artist as genius, critiqued the excessive commercialisation of both art works and artists’ personalities as products, and in some cases offered an alternative to the existing art structure. Tinguely was working on ideas that were pertinent not only to himself but to a wider group of artists and writers and, as such, Tinguely's Métamatics were part of a broader post-war interest in redefining art.

References

External links

Metamatic Research

Tinguely website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metamatic Robotic art Sculptures Individual robots