Piano destruction | A history of performance art on the Riviera from 1951 until now

Creator:

Arman

Performer:

Arman

Producer:

Arman

Website:

//www.ina.fr/video/CPF86607739

Occurence:

Places:

Atelier d'Arman

Starting date:

1967

Topology:

experimental space/artist's studio/at home

Adress:

Nice

France

Description:

On the roof of his studio in the la Lanterne district in Nice, Arman destroyed a piano in public. He did this action several times, notably at the Saqqârah gallery in 1962 under the title Chopin's Waterloo.

[…] First of all, do not imagine that I made the piano for you, it may seem something spectacular, arbitrarily intended to be burnt and have a party. I didn’t burn it to make a big fire, I concocted a nice little fire, burning small parts after small parts, the remains being stuck into some polyester, which will then be pinned on a white board. But that was to make a piece of art, a work of art. An accident is a wonderful thing, an accident is always a Japanese garden […], creating accidents and controlling them…

I’ve never considered that work, in a piece of art, had such a great importance, work even provides a distance between the conception and the result […].

Partial transcript of Arman’s interview, Gérard Patris, L’École de Nice (School of Nice), a 20 minutes 1966 movie, © INA.

With this testimony, Arman separates action from performance, the intent being clearly stated, during the “making of a piece”, of an object, as spectacular as gesture may be, it pertains to the background. Yet, whatever is at stake, whenever a performance occurs, is made paradoxically conspicuous, and then arise the questioning of improvisation, of the gesture’s value, of the place of the viewer.

Arman | capture d'écran du film de la performance "Destruction de piano", 1967, extrait du reportage de Gérard Patris "École de Nice" | © Arman - ADAGP, Paris 2012 | photographie : © Gérard Patris / INA