Somersault
1942, Hans (Jean) Arp
Arp on Arp, Poems, Essays, Memories, ed. by Marcel Jean, New York 1972, p. 341.»As I work, friendly, strange, evil, inexplicable, mute, or sleeping forms arise. They take shape on their own. I seem merely to set my hands in motion.«
About the Work
Bronze (0/5, Rudier 1976)
Height: 35 cm
Here Arp clearly describes his intuitive approach to his work. The forms arise spontaneously. They are not planned in advance; they are not based on sketches. The sculpture Somersault will no doubt also have arisen in this manner. It is one of a series of small-format sculptures – hybrid creatures whose bulges and elongated protrusions extend apparently uncontrollably into space. The forms start to proliferate before our eyes, recalling the tentacles of sea creatures or creepers.