Suddenly This Overview

Ever since they met in 1979, the Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss have joyfully challenged the seriousness of art, advocating navety and irony as creative values. Without a prevailing hierarchy, how can we tell a story about the world? This is the question posed by the two young artists in Los Angeles, at loose ends like the rat and the bear in their first film, Der geringste Widerstand (The Point of Least Resistance). 

They set about sculpting a repertoire for an absurdist encyclopaedia: playlets and clay objects that bear witness to a fragmentary history of humanity through their personal memories, trivial or crucial historical episodes, works of art, and statements of popular philosophy.
The sculptural epic Plötzlich diese Übersicht (Suddenly this overview), which began in 1981 and ended with the death of David Weiss, comprises several hundred works, executed quickly and without any preparation, a large number of which are held by the Pinault Collection.