Jean Tinguely abandoned painting in order to create kinetic machines in the 1950s. He assembled his machines from industrial and household items and their parts, which reveals the impact of Marcel Duchamp. The Swiss artist's medium-sized, electric motor powered, hydraulic kinetic sculpture My Wheels made from the wheels of sewing-machines, prams, kids cars and leather belts questions academism. His machines, which respond to industrial mass production and the cult of technological progress, do function but do not produce goods. With their crackling sound, their circuiting and their conscious imperfection, they reject the cult of the new object characteristic of consumer society, but are the pioneers of waste recycling. In addition to the idly functioning machines, self-destructive machines are also important part of his oeuvre, such as Homage to New York, which after being set up in the garden of MoMA New York in March 1960 exploded and burst into flames.
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