By

Christian Marclay

Accompanying text

From Hall Art Foundation:

Made To Be Destroyed (2016) is a compilation of scenes in which both real and fictional artworks are smeared, broken, torn, toppled, burned, or otherwise damaged. Strategically interweaved by Marclay under a cacophony of sounds, the actions are either intrinsic to the process of creation, or haphazard and intentionally violent, or both.
Marclay is a Swiss-American artist whose 40-year career spans video, performance, photography and installation. He is perhaps best known for film collages that transform often overlooked aspects in cinema into fantastic explorations of everyday themes.

Made To Be Destroyed (2016) is a compilation of scenes in which both real and fictional artworks are smeared, broken, torn, toppled, burned, or otherwise damaged. Strategically interweaved by Marclay under a cacophony of sounds, the actions are either intrinsic to the process of creation, or haphazard and intentionally violent, or both.

The title Made To Be Destroyed references the process of film production and the making of objects for cinematic use, while raising questions about artistic license and legacy. Recognizable reproductions of notable artworks include examples by Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, and Egon Schiele. In one scene, a gun fight staged at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City results in fast-paced destruction throughout the building, itself a dedicated landmark by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. While the destruction at times references the long history of artwork confiscations under authoritarian regimes, Made To Be Destroyed also upends the distanced conduct required in museums and galleries.


In Made To Be Destroyed, Marclay’s source material spans nearly a century. The film productions are geographically diverse, including examples from the US, Sweden, the former Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Through quick transitions, Marclay often obscures the film’s intended narrative, but contextual clues like the performers’ gestures, the style and tempo of the background music, and the cinematography allow associations through form. Through Marclay’s intertwining of drama, comedy, action, biography, romance, horror, and documentary, Made To Be Destroyed cumulatively establishes its own disposition.

From UBU:

Some art is Made to Be Destroyed—as Christian Marclay titled his 24-minute video of spliced-together scenes of works being torched, smashed, or otherwise destroyed in various films—while some is made to be preserved. In Marclay’s case, it’s the latter, since the Whitney Museum is now the custodian of the work, a donation from the artist that came as part of a fundraising match for the Swiss Institute (which showed the work in 2016) at its benefit in November. The auctioneer Simon de Pury tried to drum up bidders at the event by promising that anyone who donated $50,000 would receive a set of prints as well as have their name displayed on the label of Marclay’s work at the Whitney. “Your name will be associated with Made to Be Destroyed at the museum for eternity! This is incredible! Your name will be there, right along with Christian’s name, of course, for ever and ever and ever!” De Pury got an “A” for enthusiasm, but there were no takers at that level. A few moments later, however, the art adviser Lisa Schiff jumped in with $30,000, followed by further pledges from David Kordansky, Phil Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, and Eva Presenhuber, among others. In the end, Made to Be Destroyed was saved from the fire.