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Artist or Maker: MARIO MERZ
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Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist in 1972
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Exhibited: Kassel, Germany, Musee Fridericianum, Documenta 5: 100 Days of Inquiry into Reality -- Today's Imagery, 30 June - 8 October, 1972
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Notes: Mario Merz's conceptual oeuvre, sourced from autobiographical subjects and executed with an expansive variety of materials,revolved around three motifs, the igloo, the Fibonacci sequence and neon light, two of which feature in the present lot. Untitled, an early and striking installation comprised of eleven gelatin silver prints and ten Fibonacci sequence numbers sculpted from coloured neonlight, powerfully portrays the artist's desire to link nature, art and the human condition. Interested in the visual representation of the concept of growth, Merz appropriated the famed Fibonacci sequence for the purpose of his art.The sequence, in which each numeral is equal to the sum of the two that precede it, was elaborated by the 13th century Pisan mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci da Pisa when he studied the hypothetical reproductive rate of rabbits. Its common occurrence in nature fascinated Merz who believed that the organically progressing numbers in the series had an innate relationship to human sociology. Untitled is part of a performance based body of work executed in 1972 in three different restaurants and entitled A real sum is a sum of people (Una sommareale e una somma di gente). For the performance depicted in the present lot which took place at the Ristorante della Spada in Turin, Merz began by photographing an empty section of the dining area of the restaurant.Then, set within the exact same field of view as his first photograph and in accordance with the laws of progression dictated by the Fibonacci sequence, Merz photographed 1,2, 3, 5, 8,13, 21, 34 and finally 55 people gathering to dine in the restaurant.The neon numerals above each documentary photograph enumerate the proliferation of patrons united in the universal and essential purpose of eating.The present lot, of which another from the edition is retained in the permanent collection of NewYork's Museum of Modern Art, was first exhibited at the infamous Documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972 and has remained in the same private German collection ever since. Both hailed and derided by artists and critics, Documenta 5 was the largest, most expensive and most diverse of any exhibition anywhere, and foreshadowed all large-scale, collaboratively curated, comprehensive mega-shows to come. Largely based around conceptually and minimally charged artworks, Documenta 5 valiantly attempted to bridge the gap between art, culture, science and the broader society- an effort beautifully realized in the present work.
