As half of the Swiss art duo Fischli/Weiss, he made striking use of photography, film, clay – and questions
The Swiss artist David Weiss, who has died aged 66 of cancer, belonged to one of the enduring partnerships of contemporary art, the duo Fischli/Weiss. With his compatriot Peter Fischli, he created some of the most memorable work of the past three decades, demonstrating that irony and sincerity cannot exist without each other; that, indeed, there is no sincerity like irony.
In their 30-minute film The Way Things Go (1987), a series of everyday objects and machine parts roll, topple, burn, spill or otherwise propel themselves forwards to create an extended chain reaction of miraculous cause and effect. These chemical and physical sequences create the illusion that the objects have mysteriously achieved independence from human control, reflecting the artists' sense of pleasure in the process of producing the work. It relishes the...
The Swiss artist David Weiss, who has died aged 66 of cancer, belonged to one of the enduring partnerships of contemporary art, the duo Fischli/Weiss. With his compatriot Peter Fischli, he created some of the most memorable work of the past three decades, demonstrating that irony and sincerity cannot exist without each other; that, indeed, there is no sincerity like irony.
In their 30-minute film The Way Things Go (1987), a series of everyday objects and machine parts roll, topple, burn, spill or otherwise propel themselves forwards to create an extended chain reaction of miraculous cause and effect. These chemical and physical sequences create the illusion that the objects have mysteriously achieved independence from human control, reflecting the artists' sense of pleasure in the process of producing the work. It relishes the...
- 5/1/2012
- by Hans Ulrich Obrist
- The Guardian - Film News
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