Table Violons

Description

Inspired by the Dada movement, Arman (born Armand Pierre Fernandez) created unconventional sculptures made from accumulated trash. In the mid–20th century, he began exhibiting random assortments of garbage displayed in glass boxes, which he dubbed “Poubelles” (“trash cans”). He also introduced his “Accumulations”—assemblages of multiple iterations of the same object, which ranged from toy cars and paint tubes to retainers and faucets. Arman often adopted destruction as a strategy for creation: He sliced, burned, and smashed objects such as bronze statues and musical instruments, then mounted fragments on canvas, encased them in plexiglass, or presented them alone.