© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn ; photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, photo: Franz J. Wamhof
- Artist/s
- Yaacov Agam
- Title
- Never too late
- Year
- 1966
- Edition / Serial number
- 20
- Copy Number
- 12
- Category
- Sculpture
- Format
- Wall Piece
- Material / Technique
- variable object ; 10 movable, silver plated metal elements, brass plate
- Dimensions / Duration
- 27 x 2,5 x 5 cm
- Collection
- ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
- Description
- "We are in constant metamorphosis. We are never the same, and we never repeat ourselves." [1] (Agam, 1958)
The theme of time runs like a red thread through the work of the Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, including in his 1966 work »Never too late«. Nine silver-plated and movable steel rods are mounted here on a black brass plate. However, they only represent a snapshot of infinite combination possibilities. Each constellation of the bars could also be different – if the position of a bar is changed, the entire appearance changes. It is this playful approach that Agam, as an important representative of kinetic art, shows with »Never too late«. The work was originally intended to be changed by the visitors. They themselves were supposed to create ever new variations of the rod arrangements and thus participate in the endless game of possible relations. In this way, a work was created that was not characterized by seclusion, but by constant transformation, whereby the artist, the artwork and the viewer entered into a timeless dialogue with each other. Today, unfortunately, manipulation by the viewer is no longer possible for reasons of conservation.
[1] Yaacov Agam »Manifesto«, in »agam. Paintings and Sculptures«, published by Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, exhibition cat. (Düsseldorf: Municipal Art Gallery Düsseldorf, 1973), 6.
Images
Yaacov Agam, »Never too late« [Niemals zu spät], 1966, variable object ; 10 movable, silver plated metal elements, brass plate, 27 x 2,5 x 5 cm, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe.© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn ; photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, photo: Franz J. Wamhof