A machine for drawing and thinking about art differently
After initial trials around 1955, the Swiss artist developed his Méta-matics, funny “drawing machines”, in 1959. What does it consist of? Delegate the act of drawing to the machine, in all sorts of configurations, depending on how it is animated.
One of the most impressive, the Méta-matic n°17, is currently on show at the Grand Palais. Constructed from painted iron and wood, and equipped with a fuel-powered engine, it moved forward on its own, unrolling hundreds of meters of paper. On this white ribbon appeared random tracings, immediately cut out by mechanical scissors.
With humor and invention, Tinguely questions what it means to be an artist: can we delegate the creative gesture to a machine? By bringing these sculptures to life, he overturns certainties, transforms creation into performance, and turns mechanics into a veritable poetic language.
Presented at the Paris Biennale in 1959, Méta-matic n°17 has become an iconic work, since conserved at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet.
