Monday, May 3, 2010

Rattle and squeak

One of the fountains in Basel features the work of an artist who was born there, Jean Tinguely. It a very quirky piece of satirical nonsense with shovels scooping up water, a big sieve uselessly sieving and other pieces spraying water in all directions. It's a type of sculpture called metamechanics.



We also went to Museum Tinguely in Basel. There are dozens of mechanical sculptures by Tinguely that operate at the push of a button, with pieces of metal squeaking, rattling, groaning, crashing, thumping, rotating, flopping and whirring. It's a noisy and lively museum and a great delight for visitors of all ages. There were lots of families there the day we went. It's a cryptic, tragic, scary, funny, entertaining and thought-provoking exhibition in an interesting building by the architect Mario Botta.



2 comments:

  1. Methinks there is hope yet for all of Phil's old collectibles of agricultural equipment in the laneway at the farm (not forgetting the HQ Holden in the backyard at Geelong!!)
    Hopefully your trip back at the end of the week wont have similar sounds (metal squeaking, rattling, groaning, crashing, thumping, rotating, flopping and whirring) on the Korean Airlines plane.
    Lorraine, looking forward to your soft focus, moody photos as the inclement weather continues.
    Black Sheep from you know where!

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  2. Lorraine, I found the sculptures very interesting and thought provoking.
    When you get back, I must ask Phil how those two roof tilers didn't go through the slate roof, which was shown in one of your much earlier photos.
    Cheers Kamil

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