Pure Object Theatre

Fischli and Weiss: Flowers and Questions A Retrospective.

Showing at the Tate Modern Until 14th January 2007.

The delight of this exhibition can be found in Rooms 5 and 6. In room 5 there are a number of photographs depicting objects placed in humorous states of play with each other, as if caught out playing games with other or caught in the act of object copulation. The titles in turn add a surrealist twist that harks back to the ready-mades of Duchamp and the gang.

Yet this is just a prelude for what must be the amusing film I have ever seen in a gallery. The Way Things Go (1986 -7) is a product of the artists playing with objects as they set off an absurd chain reaction of events that combine chairs, tyres, balloons filled with acid, bars of corroding soap, tiny cars, kettles mounted on roller skates and all manner of inventive combinations of objects lasting for over thirty minutes. They manage to animate this array of inanimate objects with the tinniest force, liberating them from banality. This is no doubt a famous work that has been parodied (or stolen) by that Honda Ad but coming across it unexpectedly was the highlight of a thoroughly enjoyable retrospective. If only science lessons had been like this.

You can see a clip at this site:
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/the-way-of-things/