Robert Filliou

1968

Object, 11 x 11 x 11 cm.
Materials: wood (beech), lock, labels, 1 stone

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. M00006).

Other works and editions that afford an enlightening peek into a world structured by such an anarchic sense of humor are the so-called “Optimistic Boxes”, the first of which, from the fabled year 1968, contains a pavement stone: an inscription on the outside of Optimistic Box Nr. 1 (1968) reads “thank God for modern weapons”, countered by an inscription that states “we don’t throw stones at each other anymore” – yet the paving stone was effectively that year’s most popular weapon.

Optimistic Box n°2 from 1969 contains Filliou’s scathing view of modern marriage; yet another, later work, A More Curious Invention of the Gaga Yogi (1976) consists of a box containing hundreds of thumbnails inside, and sporting one lonely, hammered nail outside.

Optimistic Box N°3 "So much the better if you can't play chess" on the outside and "You won't imitate Marcel Duchamp" on the inside. Optimistic Box N° 4 and 5 is one object, it is about the overall importance of money. The object is a pink piggy bank, on the one side is written "one thing I learned since I was born" on the other side : "that I must die since I was born".

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The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

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