The first monogaph on the witty, celebrated Swiss duo.

Peter Fischli and David Weiss are a Swiss artistic duo who first began working together in the late 1970s. Their internationally renowned sculpture, video and photographic works look at everyday life and its conceptions of beauty and pleasure, forming an innocent, unpredictable world utterly unique in contemporary art

Peter Fischli and David Weiss' work has been seen at such key international exhibitions as documenta 8 (1987) and X (1997), the Biennales of Sydney (1990, 1998) and Sao Paulo (1989) and the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (1988), among many others. This is the first true monograph on this extraordinary pair, who will have a major retrospective of their work at the Tate Modern, London (2005-6)

Fischli & Weiss are represented by Spruth Magers Lee, 12 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DT, England, tel. +44 20 7491 0100, fax 20 7491 0200, and Matthew Marks Gallery, 523 West 24 St, New York, NY 10011

Artist's residence: Zurich, Switzerland

Autorentext
Robert Fleck (Survey) is the Director of the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. He has been working as an art critic and curator since 1981. From 1991-93 he was the Federal Curator for Austrian contemporary art, and in 1998 he co-curated Manifesta 2. From 2000-03 he was Director of ERBAN Fine Art School in Nantes. His books include Die Muhl-Kommune (2003) and Yves Klein (2004). Author's Residence: Hamburg, Germany Beate Soentgen (Interview) is Professor of Art History at Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany. From 2003-4 she was Laurenz-Professor of Contemporary Art at Basel University, Switzerland, and from 1998-2002, Assistant Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Braunschweig, Germany. She has published several books and contributed to many catalogues and publications, including Texte zur Kunst and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Her post-doctorate focuses on 'Representation, Rhetoric, Knowledge'. Author's Residence: Bochum, Germany Arthur C. Danto (Focus) is Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University, New York, and the art critic for The Nation. His books include Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post Historical Perspective and Encounters (1992), and Reflections: Art in the Historical Present (1992), which won the Book Critics Circle Award. Author's Residence: New York The Artist's Choice by Swiss novelist Robert Walser (1878-1956), on the pleasure of walking, mirrors the artists' own rambling meanderings, while the Artist's Writings include unpublished scripts from early video works, and selections from Will Happiness Find Me? (2003). Artists' Residence: Zurich

Zusammenfassung
The first monogaph on the witty, celebrated Swiss duo.

Inhalt
Interview - Swiss critic Beate Soentgen discusses with the artists notions of sincerity and illusion, and examines the question of how literally viewers are asked to read their work. Survey - French critic and curator Robert Fleck looks at Fischli and Weiss' ability to resist conventional artistic categories, crossing fluidly between sculpture, installation, photography and the moving image. Focus - Noted art critic and leading authority on Fischli and Weiss, Professor Arthur C. Danto examines the immensely popular The Way Things Go (1987), offering a new perspective on this well-known film. Artist's Choice - The artists have chosen a text by Swiss novelist Robert Walser on the pleasure of walking, which mirrors their own meanderings. Artist's Writings - include unpublished scripts from early video works and an interview from 1996 with Rirkrit Tiravanija, one of the many contemporary artists who admire Fischli and Weiss' understated, unmonumental style. * Chronology and Bibliography