David Weiss, 1946–2012

Peter Fischli and David Weiss, from the Equilibriums series, 1984–5

Peter Fischli: The little book of questions, includes the question: ‘Do I suffer from good taste?’ In the ‘Equilibriums’ we were slightly relieved of the question of which object must be selected according to which criteria: it didn’t matter whether the colour of the cigarette lighter that establishes and maintains the balance is a nice green or not.

David Weiss: The only criterion shaping the composition was balance.

Peter Fischli: Gerhard Richter once said something I really liked: a lottery ticket with six out of six winning numbers marked on it can only be good. Only an idiot would say. ‘But the crosses aren’t nicely distributed’. And the same is true with the ‘Equilibriums’: if it stays up, then it can only be good.

From an interview with Jörg Heiser, October 2006