PETER FISCHLI & DAVID WEISS | Schneefall

Sonnabend Gallery, New York (1993/1994)
Private collection, Switerland (since 1994)
Private collection, Switzerland (by descent to the present owner)

New York, Sonnabend Gallery, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, 1994

PARKETT, Snakes & Ladders. Francesco Clemente, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Günther Förg, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Rebecca Horn, Sigmar Polke. 10 Years of Parkett & Index, no. 40 / 41, 1994, p. 32 and p. 35, ill.
in a restless world, Walker Art Center, 1996, p. 110

At the top right corner of the plate is glued. The work is otherwise in excellent condition.
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This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity issued by Peter Fischli/David Weiss.  Im typisch humoristisch-konzeptuellen Stile des schweizer Künstlerduos Fischli Weiss bezieht sich die Arbeit „Schneefall“ auf die gleichnamige Installation von Joseph Beuys von 1965, die heute in der Sammlung des Kunstmuseum Basel weilt. Ähnlich wie bei Beuys besteht die Arbeit aus vermeindlich kargen Materialien des Alltags. Jedoch ist jedes Einzelteil aus Polyurethan handgefertigt und von den Künstlern selbst bemalt. Mit ästhetischem Verweis auf das Readymade von Duchamp wird dieses gleichzeitig auf konzeptueller und materieller Ebene hinterfragt. Die vermeindliche Illusion funktionierender Bestandteile eines Künstlerateliers fungiert als ein „künstliches Readymade“ und ergibt somit einem Widerspruch in sich selbst. Was bleibt ist die Poesie des Alltags, die Kontemplation eines Objektes, das sich dem materiellen Nutzen entzogen hat und als reine Kunstform in sich selbst existiert.

In the typically conceptual style of the Swiss artist duo Fischli&Weiss, this work refers to the installation of the same name by Joseph Beuys in 1965 which belongs to the Kunstmuseum in Basel. As with Beuys the work comprises everyday materials. But every individual part in polyurethane is hand-made and is painted by the artists themselves. With aesthetic references to Duchamp's Readymades, the supposed illusion of functioning components of an artist's studio functions as an "artificial Readymade" and therefore stands in contradiction to itself. What remains is the poetry of everyday life, the contemplation of an object which has avoided material use and exists as a pure art form in itself.