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Irma Hünerfauth

In 1968, Irma Hünerfauth (1907, Donaueschingen, Germany – 1998, Kreuth, Germany) abandoned the medium of painting and began creating kinetic works using found objects and the detritus from consumer society. The sculpture Augen und Glocke (ca. 1970) is part of the Vibrationsobjekte series. In these works, the artist uses materials such as cables, electronic components and plastic objects which are soldered onto computer circuit boards. At the time of their creation, visitors were invited to ‘activate’ these interactive sculptures, causing their components to vibrate and produce electronic sound. In these objects, everything that is ‘fine, precious, like a jeweller’s’ – according to the artist – is meant to waver. She continues: ‘The visitor is confronted with how a composition falls apart; he [or she] is supposed to experience the discomfort of the destruction of the “beautiful”, as an awareness.’