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Annual Report 2004
Jean Tinguely: Water and Technology
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“Everything is in motion – nothing stands still.”
Technical precision as it relates to water is the dynamic challenge that Geberit faces on a daily basis. The company uses clever sanitary technology to ensure that water is used sparingly and transported in an optimal manner. A goal oriented innovation process ensures that the quality of Geberit products and the development of specific know-how is continually expanded, thus assuring its place as market leader.
Technology and water also marked the life of artist and sculptor, Jean Tinguely. He is certainly best known as the artist who was able to perfectly combine water and technology, precision and playfulness and humor and surprise. Creating his art demanded a wealth of knowledge, creativity, the will to succeed and excellence. These values are also those that Geberit embraces.
However, unlike Geberit the artist fabricated working structures using imprecise parts, consciously playing with inaccuracy. For his moving objects and noisy motor-driven machine sculptures the artist predominately used scrap yard metal pieces. These machines, a balance between playful wit and threatening aggressiveness, reflected Tinguely’s intrigue with technology, ironically their absurdity also represented the modern industrial world and the business of making art.
For example, the “Jo Siffert” fountain in Fribourg (CH) is a compelling portrayal of both the relationship and the disparity between technical functionality and the free artistic spirit. In 1984 Tinguely built this fountain sculpture as a memorial to his friend Jo Siffert, the popular Swiss Formula 1 pilot who died in an accident at Brands Hatch in 1971.
Tinguely created additional fountains exhibiting unusually playful character for metropolitan areas: “Etude pour un fin du Monde No. 1”, in the Louisiana Museum Humlebaek (DK), in 1961; “End of the World No. 2”, in the Nevada desert (US), in 1962; “Carneval de Bâle”, in Basel (CH), in 1977 and “Stravinsky”, near the Centre Pompidou in Paris (FR), in 1983. They all reflect Tinguely’s image of a dynamic exhibition and art world that, still today, has not lost its fascination or relevance.
The key phrase for Jean “Jeannot” Tinguely’s art is that motion can be experienced both visually and acoustically. This was the guiding theme for his artistic output. “Everything is in motion – nothing stands still” remarked Tinguely in 1959. A motto that also applies to Geberit, as it is also always on the move, with new ideas and dynamic market implementations.
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Jean Tinguely:
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