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Jean Tinguely

21 quotes

“THE ONLY STABLE THING IS MOVEMENT”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Tinguely's letter to Peter Selz (1956); quoted in: Osbel Suárez et al. (2007) Lo[s] cinético[s]. p. 256.
“They'll all pee blue for one week to ten days, for about the duration of the show. The first opening I've enjoyed!”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Jean Tinguely (1958), cited in: Heidi E. Violand-Hobi, ‎Jean Tinguely (1995) Jean Tinguely: life and work. p. 10.
“The relationship of art and play: to play is art - consequently I play. I play enraged.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jean Tinguely (1959), quoted in: ACM multimedia 2000: proceedings. ACM. Special Interest Group on Multimedia (2000). p. 19.
“Static, static, static! Be static! Be static! Movement is static! Movement is static! Movement is static because it is the only immutable thing - the only certainty, the only unchangeable. The only certainty is that movement is static.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in: Guy Brett, ‎Hayward Gallery, ‎Museu d'Art Contemporani (Barcelona, Spain) (2000) Force fields: phases of the kinetic. p. 250.
“Only in movement do we find the true essence of things. Today we can no longer believe in permanent laws, defined religions, durable architecture or eternal kingdoms. Immutability does not exist. All is movement. All is static.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are afraid of movement because it stands for decomposition – because we see our desintegration in movement. Continuous static movement marches on ! It cannot be stopped. We are fooling ourselves if we close our eyes and refuse to recognize the change. Actually, decomposition does not exist! Decomposition does not exist ! Decomposition is a state envisaged only by us because we do not want it to exist, and because we dread it.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Currently, my machines are black and sometimes gentle, if not sexy or exuding a contained violence; I finally found the technical means for accomplishing this.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“francais: Actuellement mes machines sont noires et parfois même douces, si pas sexy ou alors d'une violence contenue, techniquement j'arrive enfin à les faire bien.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to Franz Meyer, spring 1965; Quoted in: "Jean Tinguely: Santana Bascule, 1966" at tinguely.ch, 2014.
“There is no death! Death only exists for those who cannot accept evolution. Everything changes. Death is a transition from movement to movement. Death is static. Death is movement. Death is static. Death is movement.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 119
“Be yourself by growing above yourself. Don’t stand in your own way. Let us change with, and not against, movement. Then we shall be static and shall not decompose. Then there will be neither good nor evil, neither beauty nor unsightliness, neither truth nor falsehood. Conceptions are fixations. If we stand still, we block our own path, and we are confronted with our own controversies.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 119
“Let us contradict ourselves because we change. Let us be good and evil, true and false, beautiful and loathsome. We are all of these anyway. Let us admit it by accepting movement. Let us be static! Be static!”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 120
“We are still very much annoyed by out-of-date notions of time. Please, would you throw away your watches! At least toss aside the minutes and hours. Obviously we all realize that we are not everlasting. Our fear of death has inspired the creation of beautiful works of art. And this was a fine thing, too. However, our only eternal possession will be change.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 120
“To attempt to hold fast an instant id doubtful.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 120
“Time is movement and cannot be checked. Time passes us and rushes on, and we remind behind, old and crumbled. But we are juvenated again and again by static and continuous movement. Let us be transformed! Let us be static! Let us be against stagnation and for static!”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 120
“I wanted something ephemeral, that would pass like a falling star and, most importantly, that would be impossible for museums to reabsorb. I didn't want it to be 'museumised'. The work had to pass by, make people dream and talk, and that would be all, the next day nothing would be left, everything would go back to the garbage bins.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Tinguely in a radio interview (1982), as cited in: 'Violand-Hobi', Heidi G. Jean Tinguely: Life and Work (NY: Prestel, 1995), p. 36 ; Talking about his Homage to New York; Cited in: John D. Powell. (2009, p. 31…
“During my nightmarish time in a coma, 11 days long, you kept appearing in my dreams, wild, you and Slava, like gypsies & always too late. You were a two-man orchestra & we were always looking for you and waiting for you.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter, January 1986; cited in: Jean Tinguely, ‎Margrit Hahnloser-Ingold, ‎Paul Sacher (1996) Briefe von Jean Tinguely an Paul Sacher und Gemeinsame Freunde.
“My ghosts are satisfied.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jean Tinguely (1990); as quoted in: Museum Jean Tinguely Basel, ‎Jean Tinguely, ‎Fritz Gerber (1996) Museum Jean Tinguely Basel. p. 250.
“Everything moves continuously. Immobility does not exist. Don't be subject to the influence of out-of-date concepts. Forget hours, seconds and minutes. Accept instability. Live in Time. Be static - with movement. For a static of the present movement. Resist the anxious wish to fix the instantaneous, to kill that which is living. Stop insisting on 'values' which can only break down. Be free, live. Stop painting time. Stop evoking movements and gestures. You are movement and gesture. Stop building cathedrals and pyramids which are doomed to fall into ruin. Live in the present, live once more in Time and by Time - for a wonderful and absolute reality”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In For Statics (original title: Für Statik), 1958 programmatic text for the 'Concert for Seven Pictures' in Düsseldorf: as quoted in: Arts/Canada. Vol. 25. (1968) p. 4.
“Immobile, certain, and permanent things, ideas, works and beliefs change, transform, and disintegrate...Movement is the only static, final, permanent, and certain thing. Static means transformation...Do not hold on to anything...Do not pinpoint anything!.. .We are fooling ourselves if we close our eyes and refuse to recognize the change.. .Decomposition begins only when we try to prevent it.. .We would so much like to own, think, or be something static, eternal, and permanent. However, our only eternal possession will be change.. .To attempt to hold fast an instant is doubtful.. .How beautiful it is to be transitory. How lovely it is not to have to live forever.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in: Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings. ed. Stiles, Kristine and Selz, Peter (LA: University of California Press, 1996), p. 405; Cited in: John D. Powell. Preserving …
“So-called immobile objects exist only in movement. Immobile, certain, and permanent things, ideas, works and beliefs change, transform, and disintegrate. Immobile objects are snapshots of a movement whose existence we refuse to accept, because we ourselves are only an instant in the great movement. Movement is the only static, final, permanent, and certain thing. Static means transformation. Let us be static together with movement. Move statically! Be static! Be movement! Believe in movement's static quality. Believe in change. Do not hold onto anything. Change! Do not pinpoint anything! Everything about us is movement. Everything around us is change. Believe in movement's static quality. Be static.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: reprinted in 'Zero', ed. Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, Cambridge, Mass; MIT Press 1973, p. 119
“With Dada I.. ..have in common a certain mistrust toward power. We don't like authority, we don't like power, To me art is a form of manifest revolt, total and complete. It's a political attitude which doesn't need to found a political party. It's not a matter of taking power; when you are against it, you can't take it. We're against all forms of force which aggregate and crystallize an authority that oppresses people. Obviously this is not a characteristic of my art alone - it's much more general, a basic political attitude. It's a clear intention, more necessary today than ever, to oppose all forms of force emanating from a managing, centralizing political power.”
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from an interview on the Belgian radio, 1982; As cited in: Andersson, Patrik Lars. Euro-pop: the mechanical bride stripped bare in Stockholm, even. (2001). p. 50.