LONDON.- A unique installation in Kensington Gardens presented by the
Serpentine Gallery and The Royal Parks, Rock on Top of Another Rock is a large-scale sculpture by the world renowned artist duo Fischli/Weiss.
This is the first public sculpture by the artists to be presented in the UK.
The monumental work, Rock on Top o Another Rock, is formed of two giant glacial boulders balanced precariously on top of each other. Situated close to the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens and standing at over five metres tall, the work is visible from a number of viewpoints across the Park. The installation also relates to the artists' 1984 series of photographs, Equilibres/Quiet Afternoon, which shows precariously balanced sculptures moments before their collapse. The rocks' massive presence teeters between stability and instability.
The Swiss duo Fischli/Weiss Peter Fischli (b. 1952) and David Weiss (1946-2012) has created some of the most memorable artworks of the past three decades and inspired many artists around the world. The artists are best-known for their 30-minute film, The Way Things Go (1987), which has enjoyed a reputation far beyond the art world. In it a series of everyday objects and machine parts roll, topple, burn, spill or otherwise propel themselves forwards to create an extended chain reaction of miraculous cause and effect.
Equally recognised is their long-term archival project Visible World, created between 1987 and 2001, which consists of 3,000 small-format photographs arranged and uniformly displayed on a specially constructed 90ft-long table, the images ranging from jungles, gardens, deserts, mountains and beaches to cities, offices, apartments, airports and famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower and The Golden Gate Bridge.
Their work was chosen to represent Switzerland at the Venice Biennale in 2003, where they won the Golden Lion prize. They have exhibited extensively worldwide, with solo exhibitions at Tate Modern, London (2006), the Centre Pompidou, Paris (1992) and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1988). Peter Fischli lives and works in Zurich, and will complete projects conceived together with David Weiss, while developing his work as an individual artist.
Fischli/Weiss Rock on Top of Another Rock is curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, and Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, at the Serpentine Gallery, and is organised in collaboration with The Royal Parks and Modus Operandi. It is part of a series of occasional installations and exhibitions of sculpture in Kensington Gardens that has included Thomas Schuttes United Enemies in 2012, Turning the World Upside Down by Anish Kapoor in 2011 and The Sculpture Show in 1983 presented with the Hayward Gallery.