M HKA Ensembles

Object, 210 x ⌀ 173 cm.

Collection: Private Collection, Collectie M HKA, Antwerpen (Inv. no. S0467).

Dieter Roth first works as a graphic artist, makes artist’s books and art work related to geometric abstraction. Invited by his friend Daniel Spoerri to participate in Antwerp, Roth sends him sketches for two works from New York. Spoerri stands in for the construction and installation. The metal heap with criss-crossed spanned rope – lost, but reconstructed by M HKA with permission of the artist’s estate – can be seen as an ironic comment on Roth’s earlier work, and as first step towards the radically playful, intentionally chaotic oeuvre that would follow.

The work in the M HKA collection is an authorized 2012 copy of an original work the artist made in 1959 for the exhibition 'Vision in Motion' at the Hessenhuis in Antwerp, which has been lost. The copy was commissioned by the M HKA, with the permission of Dieter Roth Estate, on the occasion of the exhibition 'Lonely at the Top : Nieuwe kunst in Antwerpen 1958-1962 - #3 totaal nieuwe media scheppen' which took place at the M HKA in 2012.