Franz West - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Friday, October 12, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist

  • Catalogue Essay

    Early on I realized that the purely visual experience of an artwork was somehow insufficient. When I started to work as an artist, I wanted to expand the traditional boundaries of sculpture and found inspiration in Fluxus, although that movement didn't have much of a presence in Vienna, where I have always lived. I wanted to go beyond the purely optical and include tactile qualities as well. My works aren't things one just looks at, but things that the viewer is invited to handle. That's a crucial aspect of the series of works that I call Passtucke - which means pieces that fit into something else, like cogwheels. The term is taken from engineering, but when I was giving shape to these objects I was also inspired by Viennese building ornament…There have been many theories of art that try to break down the border between art and the world, but I don't find such attempts to be particularly meaningful. Art remains art. I really see my works as quite compatible with a I'art pour I'art philosophy. One may think that I try to bring the art object out into the world since my works sometimes appear to have a practical function, but really it's the other way around: Things in the world can, under certain special circumstances, enter the realm of art. And, in fact, once they have entered this realm they are art.
    Franz West in A thousand Words – Franz West, ArtForum, Feb. 1999

225

Untitled (Bench)

1993
Steel bench covered with foam upholstery, foam pillows and white sheet.
43 1/4 x 249 3/8 x 31 1/2 in. (110 x 634 x 80 cm).
This work is accompanied by a photo certificate signed by the artist.

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 Ω♠

Sold for £102,000

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Evening Sale
13 October 2007, 4pm
London