Outdoor
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock
8 March 2013 - 6 March 2014
'In Norway and here, to put one rock on top of another rock in the wilderness is the first thing you do if you want to make a mark. When you walk and you want to find your way back... you make this mark. It is a very archaic, simple thing, but it is referencing the [Robert] Venturi duck. We wanted to make something that forces you to stop your car and get out to take a photograph.' Peter Fischli
Serpentine Gallery commission in Kensington Gardens
7 March 2013 - 6 March 2014
Sackler Centre of Arts Education at the Serpentine Gallery
7 March - 7 April 2013
The Serpentine Gallery is proud to present
Rock on Top of Another Rock (2010/13) by Swiss artists
Fischli/Weiss.
The first public sculpture by the artists to be commissioned in the UK, the work, situated near the entrance to the Serpentine Gallery, comprises two large granite boulders seemingly balanced one on top of the other. Standing approximately 5.5 metres high, Fischli/Weiss's deceptively simple gesture is incongruous and startling, and yet also in tune with its site.
Rock on Top of Another Rock oscillates between stability and instability, construction and destruction.
Like many of the artists' best-known works - including the
Equilibres/Quiet Afternoon photographs on display in the Serpentine's Sackler Centre of Arts Education until 7 April 2013 - the rocks are imbued with the artists' unmistakeable wit and serious sense of the absurd. A parallel project, commissioned by the National Tourist Routes in Norway, saw two boulders installed in the Norwegian countryside along the Valdresflya tourist route.
Since they began working together in the late 1970s, Swiss artists
Peter Fischli (born 1952) and
David Weiss (1946-2012) have become known for their transformations of the common-place and their finely-judged balance of humour and seriousness. Fischli/Weiss's practice crosses a wide range of media, but underpinning all of their work is a spirit of discovery that encourages us to take a fresh look at our surroundings.
The installation in Kensington Gardens is organised by the Serpentine Gallery in collaboration with The Royal Parks and Modus Operandi.
Talks and events
Tuesday 2 April 2013
An Evening with Peter Fischli
The Serpentine Gallery presents a talk dedicated to the
Fischli/Weiss installation in Kensington Gardens,
Rock on Top of Another Rock. This event, programmed in consultation with Peter Fischli, will explore the fascinating history of stones and rocks in art.
See more Exhibitions
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock 2010/2013
© 2013 Morley von Sternberg
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock 2010/2013
© 2013 Morley von Sternberg
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock 2010/2013
© 2013 Morley von Sternberg
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock 2012
Testing rocks in Wales
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin London;
Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich;
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
© 2012 Peter Fischli David Weiss
Fischli/Weiss
Rock on Top of Another Rock 2012
Indicative CGI
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin London; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich;
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
© Peter Fischli David Weiss
