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Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go) 01

Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go), 1987, single-channel video (color and sound), 31 minutes, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, purchased with funds provided by Robert and Judith Faust, © Peter Fischli and David Weiss, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery

Fischli and Weiss: Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go)

Fischli and Weiss: Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go) presents Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s celebrated 1987 video The Way Things Go. From 1979 until Weiss’s death in 2012, the two artists worked collaboratively to produce a body of work spanning film, sculpture, installation, photography, and works on paper. This video captures a well-orchestrated sequence in which everyday materials (plastic bags, tires, balloons, candles) are set in motion to create a Rube Goldberg machine-like domino effect where simple tasks are executed by elaborate and unnecessary series of events. Fischli and Weiss unravel a notion of progress tied to efficiency and embrace the absurd and unruly as essential values of daily life.

Curator: Rebecca Matalon

Lead support for MOCA Pacific Design Center is provided by Charles S. Cohen.  

Exhibitions at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Exhibitions with lead annual support provided by Sydney Holland, founder of the Sydney D. Holland Foundation. Generous funding is also provided by Allison and Larry Berg, Delta Air Lines, and Jerri and Dr. Steven Nagelberg.