The Way Things Go
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| The Way Things Go | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Fischli and David Weiss |
| Written by | Peter Fischli and David Weiss |
| Release date(s) | 1987 |
| Running time | 30 |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Way Things Go (German: Der Lauf der Dinge) is a 1987 art film by the Swiss artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss. It documents a long causal chain assembled of everyday objects, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine; but it doesn't perform a practical task and the film simply ends.
The machine is in a warehouse, about 100 feet long, and incorporates materials such as tires, trash bags, ladders, soap, oil drums, and gasoline. Fire and pyrotechnics are used as chemical triggers. The film is nearly 29 minutes, 45 seconds long, but some of that is waiting for something to burn, or slowly slide down a ramp.
The film evolved out of work the artists did on their earlier photography series, "Quiet afternoon," (German: Stiller Nachmittag) of 1984-1985. As the delicately unstable assemblages they constructed for the photos were apt to almost immediately collapse, they decided that they wanted to make use of this energy.[1] The film may also have been inspired by the video work of fellow Swiss artist, Roman Signer. The artists undoubtably saw his video work which was exhibited at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1981.[2] Signer's videos often document objects performing simple actions that are the result of physical phenomena.
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[edit] Awards
- Berlin International Film Festival, 1988
- Sydney Film Festival, 1988
- Hong Kong International Film Festival, 1988
- San Francisco International Film Festival, 1989
- National Educational Film & Video Festival, 1989 (Gold Apple)
[edit] Copyright dispute with Honda
In May 2003, Fischli and Weiss threatened legal action against Honda over similarities between the Cog commercial and The Way Things Go. The artists felt that the ad's creators had "obviously seen" their film, and should have consulted them. They had refused several requests to use the film for commercial purposes.[3] Honda's advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy eventually admitted to copying a sequence of weighted tires rolling uphill. The controversy was blamed for denying Cog a Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Danto, Arthur C. “'Fishli/Weiss': Play/Things.” In Peter Fishli and David Weiss: In a Restless World. Edited by Janet Jenkins and Kathleen McLean (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1996). Page 103.
- ^ Mack, Gerhard. “'Modulations of Time and Space': The Work of Roman Signer.” In Roman Signer. (London: Phaidon, 2006). Page 86.
- ^ "Acclaimed Honda ad in copycat row", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ "Close-Up: Live issue - When copywriting ends and copyright begins.", Campaign, October 19, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
