Flashcards on Peter Fischli and David Weiss: Contemporary Art

Peter Fischli & David Weiss: Contemporary Art Explained

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Who were Peter Fischli and David Weiss?

Swiss artists who collaborated as the artistic duo Fischli/Weiss starting in 1979.

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Fischli and Weiss

28 cards

Card 1

Question: Who were Peter Fischli and David Weiss?

Answer: Swiss artists who collaborated as the artistic duo Fischli/Weiss starting in 1979.

Card 2

Question: When were Peter Fischli and David Weiss born?

Answer: Peter Fischli was born on June 8, 1952; David Weiss was born on June 21, 1946 (he passed away on April 27, 2012).

Card 3

Question: What medium and approach are characteristic of Fischli/Weiss?

Answer: They worked across various media (sculpture, installation, film, photography), manipulating mundane, banal objects and transforming them into new, une

Card 4

Question: What is their most famous film, and when was it released?

Answer: Their most famous film is Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go), released in 1987.

Card 5

Question: What is the content of the film The Way Things Go?

Answer: The film depicts a chain of explosions, collisions, and reactions among household objects that roll and fly around a studio, directed by the artists.

Card 6

Question: Provide an example of two other works or series by Fischli and Weiss and briefly describe them.

Answer: Wursterie (Sausage Series, 1979) – transforming a shelf and a bed into a scene with dressed sausages and an alpine landscape; Polyurethane Objects (fr

Card 7

Question: What is the Visible World series (1986–2012)?

Answer: A quasi-encyclopedic collection of thousands of photographs of natural and built landscapes taken by Fischli and Weiss during 25 years of travel.

Card 8

Question: What is a common motif or theme in their work?

Answer: The transformation of mundane objects, playing with the obviousness between art and everyday things, and encouraging a new perspective on daily life.

Card 9

Question: What materials did Fischli and Weiss often use for sculptures?

Answer: Unusually: unfired clay and hand-sculpted polyurethane, which faithfully imitate common objects.

Card 10

Question: What major exhibitions and awards are mentioned in the text for Fischli/Weiss?

Answer: Major retrospectives in museums across Europe and North America, most recently the Guggenheim (2016) and Museo Jumex; participation in Documenta, Skul