Arman

Arman is today the hallowed master of the quantitative appropriation language. I usually say that his work is the "method discourse" (discours de la méthode)  of the Nouveau Réalisme. between 1959 and 1964 Arman conceived and verified the majors syntax of his quantitative language (Accumulations, Coupes, Colères, Combustions) and over the last 35 years his production has been experiencing the accelerated pace of such operative scheme. Arman’s power has no limits: from the mini-jewel to the maxi-monument, the universe of the objects has no boundaries. Object after object, subject after subject, in a constant ambush Arman’s mind is exploring the world, his own industry world. To this century, which is now reaching the end, Arman leaves his personal and unique sign, the sign of a big inspired engineer, of the poetic recycling and the industrial production. His object intelligence is fascinating, haunting, genially whimsical.

Pierre Restany
Essay published on the occasion of OPEN1999