In today’s experience economy that places outsize value on #artselfie-ready objects made of neon, mirror and eye-catchingly bright pigments, this show of Jean Tinguely’s kinetic sculptures (which closes this weekend) feels both timely and refreshing. Swiss-born Tinguely (1925-1991) made his frenetic, junkyard-sourced objects and noise music as an aggressive response to the capitalist impulse in culture. In 1960, Tinguely famously showed Homage to New York at MoMA, a “self-destroying” multimedia sculptural performance that was called off by the New York City Fire Department. Happily, no firemen are needed in this exhibition at Gladstone. Visitors are invited to operate a selection of Tinguely’s work via foot pedals. The Frankensteined moving assemblages include such elements as an animal skull with a movable jaw, scissors swiping the air above ski boots and whirring light fixtures.
Pictured: View of Jean Tinguely’s exhibition, 2015, at Gladstone, New York.