In the Equilibres series Peter Fischli and David Weiss cast everyday objects as players in a succession of elaborate, dynamic, and sometimes humorous scenes. Each object, many on the verge of collapse, is depicted in a fleeting moment of precarious balance. Though the choice of images at first appears haphazard and whimsical, the sheer number of works in the series forces us to consider a more serious motivation behind this project. Taken together, the photographs suggest systematic research into notions of chance and impermanence. In 1987, the artists developed the Equilibres series into the film The Way Things Go, which documents a perfect Rube Goldberg-like series of chain reactions that cause everyday objects to crash, burn, and soar into one another.

Adapted from

Anna Katherine Brodbeck, ed., TWO X TWO X TWENTY: Two Decades Supporting Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art), 2018, 102-107.

• Art in America
  Read, "The Indiscreet Charm of Fischli and Weiss."