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Heureka

Heureka is a sculpture by Jean Tinguely, completed in 1964 for the Swiss National Exhibition in Lausanne. It is an 8-metre-high machine sculpture built from reclaimed materials, mainly metals. After the exhibition, it was placed in Zürichhorn park in Zurich, where it remained in 2016. The Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou holds a preparatory sketch for this machine. In Zurich, the sculpture is written as Heureka.

Heureka sculpture standing on a grassy lawn beside Lake Zurich, with mountains in the distance.
Heureka stands on the shore of Lake Zurich with distant mountains under a clear sky.
May 2015 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Heureka kinetic sculpture standing on a lawn with visitors nearby and trees in the background.
Heureka by Jean Tinguely displayed outdoors during Expo 1964.
September 1964 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Heureka, a dark metal sculpture of wheels and gears in a snowy lakeside park.
Heureka stands in a snow-covered park beside the lake, with hills and cloudy skies in the background.
March 2006 © Peter Berger · CC BY-SA 3.0
Close-up of Heureka showing rusted gears, wheels, and beams with a yellow belt against green trees and blue sky.
A close-up of Jean Tinguely’s Heureka, highlighting its rusted gears and mechanical details.
June 2007 © · CC BY 2.0
An outdoor construction site in a grassy park, fenced off with temporary metal barriers, with a partly built wooden and rebar structure and a few people nearby.
A fenced construction area in a park, where a partly built wooden and rebar structure stands under a clear sky.
March 2012 © · CC BY-SA 3.0

Identification

TitleHeureka
Alternative titleEuréka
Original-language title«Еврика»

Creator

ArtistJean Tinguely
Artist nationalitySwiss

Historical context

Creation date1963–1964
Commissioned forthe Swiss National Exhibition 1964 (Expo 64) in Lausanne
Commissioned byAlberto Camenzind, chief architect of Expo 64
Commission purposeto serve as a signal tower
First public workYes

Physical characteristics

ColorMatte black
Power supply220 V
AppearancePainted matte black
StructureFive blocks, each with its own motor
Height8 m
Dimensions780 × 660 × 410 cm
Typekinetic large-scale sculpture-machine
MovementMoves without any apparent purpose; its parts move up and down, swing back and forth, and move forward and backward

Materials

MaterialsScrap metal and industrial machine parts, including iron bars, steel wheels, metal tubes, rails, rods, transmission wheels, sheet metal, mine carts, agricultural machinery parts, electric motors, and an old hay tedder
Material sourceCollected from scrap heaps of factories

Technique

Construction methodDesigned first in numerous sketches on paper and built on site at the exhibition

Location and ownership

Current locationZürichhorn park, Zurich, Switzerland
Installed there since1967
Temporary installationMounted provisionally at Zürichhorn, Zurich
Exhibition loanLoaned by the city of Zurich to ARTZUID in Amsterdam in summer 2011

Discovery and provenance

After-exhibition purchaserIndustrialist and patron Walter Bechtler, for the city of Zurich
Post-exhibition storageDismantled and stored on the grounds of Bechtler's factory
Planned relocationETH Zurich wanted it installed on the new Hönggerberg campus, but this did not happen

History and restoration

Artist residence during creationInitially in Paris in early 1963; after the Impasse Ronsin studios were demolished, he moved with Niki de Saint Phalle to Lutry near Lausanne, and later back to Auberge au Cheval Blanc in Soisy-sur-École near Fontainebleau
Placement historyAfter the exhibition it was placed in Zürichhorn park
Construction durationSix months

Other

Preparatory drawingA preparatory sketch of this machine held by the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou

Iconography and meaning

Wheel symbolismThe many wheels symbolize wisdom and madness at the same time
Relation to deathThe sculpture's predetermined paths are linked to Osiris as god of the dead
Relation to growthThe sculpture's liveliness is linked to the growth-enabling aspect of Osiris
Osiris interpretationOsiris is understood both as a vegetation god associated with growth and as a god of the dead before whom every person must account at the end of life
Mythological referenceCompared to the iconography of Osiris
Psychoanalytic interpretationA complex structure of moving beams and tubes that smoothly follows predetermined paths, possibly representing collective repression and the idea that each person follows a predetermined path in life
Literary interpretationAn allusion to Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum through expansion and contraction movements
Interpretation by Michel Conil-LacosteThree interpretations were proposed: sociological, literary, and psychoanalytic
Sociological interpretationA celebration or glorification of the industrial age
Artist's view of machineThe machine embodies humor and poetry and was intended as a free and cheerful machine
Artist comment on titleJean Tinguely said the title was a joke
Symbolic interpretationA symbol of superfluous actions, non-development, and non-productivity
ConceptA useless machine that performs unnecessary actions
Irony in titleThe title is meant ironically for an entirely useless machine; Tinguely said it was a joke and that the positive-sounding title was meant to deceive
Title interpretationA fitting expression for inventors or researchers after a groundbreaking discovery
Title explanationAccording to the account, Archimedes supposedly shouted it with joy when he discovered the principle of buoyancy while bathing
Title sourceA quotation attributed to Archimedes of Syracuse
Title meaning"I have found!"

Significance

Public work statusJean Tinguely's first public work
Reception in 1964Opinions were divided: some considered it a bad joke, some saw it as a satire on the tyranny of technology in civilization, and others found it imaginative and beautiful
Reception in ZurichThe installation was reportedly approved mainly by people under 50, while older people tended to react negatively
Regional receptionFrench-speaking Swiss reportedly never fully accepted the title but understood the sculpture's idea better than German-speaking Swiss
Film contextShown as an example of Swiss cultural life in the final part, Creation, of Ernst A. Heiniger's three-part film Switzerland for Expo 67
Historical context of receptionIn 1964, Swiss people reportedly began to doubt progress and capitalism