Robert Filliou – The Secret of Permanent Creation
(c)image: M HKA, Courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Hervé, Paris
Portrait pas fait : Joseph Beuys, 1972
Drawing
, 55 × 38 × 2 cm
Ink, pencil and felt pen on canvas
The Principle of Equivalence, Filliou’s very own trinity, is a full frontal attack on the fundaments of Western culture: value and judgment. From an artistic and philosophical point of view, ‘well made’ may be seen as the canonical ideal of imitating nature and ‘badly made’ as a space for research and experimentation, while ‘not made’ is concept, axiom or principle.
Excerpt of the conversation between Robert Filliou (RF) and Irmeline Lebeer (IL), Flayosc, France, August 1976.
IL: ‘N’: ‘Not-Made Portraits.’
RF: Do you want us to put some photos? I have them. No text, since we’ve already explained ‘Principle of Equivalence’.