Jean Tinguely Le «Rideau» de la Folie Eloge de

Jean Tinguely
Le «Rideau» de la Folie
Eloge de la folie
1966
In spring 1966, Roland Petit commissioned Jean Tinguely together with Niki de Saint Phalle and Martial Raysse to
create a stage design for a new ballet, “L’Eloge de la folie”, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Niki de Saint
Phalle and Martial Rasse designed parts of the stage decor while Tinguely invented a flat wheel mechanism that
functioned as a curtain. In the style of his early “Reliefs méta-mécaniques” with their fine wire wheels and coloured
metal parts that are made to dance through the rotational rhythm of the wheels, large, flat black-painted wheels cut out
of wood panels now turn before a white, backlit curtain. A dancer on a bicycle-like stand with pedals sets the whole
construction moving and balls rolling via transmission belts. Tinguely took recourse here to old themes and motifs, but
found a new form of expression in the ingenious stage presentation. The backlighting evoked the impression of a
shadow play and generated a feeling of weightlessness. The artist had evidently already considered the shadow effects
produced by his sculptures somewhat earlier, as demonstrated by a letter to Pontus Hulten: «Je vais faire fonctionner
les ombres des machines aussi alors avec 3-4 projecteurs de cinema.» ("I will put the shadows of the machines to good
effect as well using 3-4 film projectors.") It’s no wonder that Tinguely tried to build on this experience. Today, an
electric motor drives the machine and the dancer has been replaced by Tinguely with a human silhouette.
Museum Tinguely | Paul Sacher-Anlage 2 | P.O. Box 3255 | CH-4002 Basel | Telefon + 41 61 681 93 20 | Telefax + 41 61 681 93 21
Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11 am – 6 pm | Monday closed