Fiscli-Weiss: Equilibres (Balances)
My Equilibres imitation embodying “stacking” instead of “balance”.
Peter Fischli and David Weiss are a Swiss arist duo known for their collaboration in the photographic series Equilibres.
In Equilibres, the artists document the balancing of everyday objects, capturing the fragile beauty of equilibrium just before collapse. The impending collapse isn’t a failure but rather the essence of their work—a fleeting moment of tension and grace.
When I attempted to recreate Equilibres, I couldn’t quite capture the ethos of balance and collapse, mostly because I didn’t have the patience for it. I chose a simpler approach instead, to stack everyday objects and furniture with pronged features: a four-legged stool, a three-legged end table, and a three-legged painting easel. If Equilibres is about "balance," then my imitation was about "stacking."
While assembling my sculpture, an unexpected guest arrived—a gecko! My apartment was no stranger to these visitors, but most zip through and didn’t stay for long. This one was different. It perched on my sculpture for hours, as if it belonged there, quietly joining me in my exploration of impermanence.
The vistiing gecko that became an integral part of my “Equilibres” imitation.
Eventually, the gecko left, and I had to disassemble the sculpture. But without the gecko, the sculpture didn’t feel truly whole.
“Balance is most beautiful just before it collapses.”
This line captures the ethos of Equilibres: the allure of transient moments. The fleeting beauty of temporary sculptures exists in their fragility and precarious nature—the inevitability of their collapse is what gives them meaning.
Much to my dismay, the gecko couldn’t have stayed forever, but its brief presence made my sculpture complete. Just as in Equilibres, it’s those couple of seconds when objects are perfectly balanced and captured on camera that embodies the sculpture’s essence and the beauty of transience—the gecko was that balance.
