Robert Filliou

Recherche sur l’origine

Robert Filliou, Recherche sur l’origine
Robert Filliou (1926–1987)
Recherche sur l’origine

scroll of offset print on blue graph paper mounted together at each end with a wooden rod, accompanied by a small typed blue (exercise) book in German, housed in a two-part cardboard box 

scroll (unrolled): 10h x 32w x 9d in 


numbered and signed by the artist on the wood rod + numbered on the outside of the box 

in good vintage condition

Filliou proposes that ‘research is not the privilege of those who know, but the domain of those who don’t know’. He sees research in general, and artistic research in particular, as our best chance to live our lives in a spirit of curiosity and experimentation. ______Excerpt of the conversation between Robert Filliou (RF) and Irmeline Lebeer (IL), Flayosc, France, August 1976.

Through conceptual strategies and innovative techniques, using “poor” art mediums, such as everyday objects and spreading them through poetry, performance and video, Filliou challenged the role of art in everyday life and its status as a final product. Acting upon the idea that art can happen anywhere and at any time, Filliou called himself a “happenings maestro” and an “action poet,”and requested the participation of the public to help complete his art and make it work.