In 1947, Armand met fellow artist Yves Klein in a judo class. They became life long friends and artistic collaborators. They shared interests in Zen Buddhism and astrology and admired the work of Vincent van Gogh. Like van Gogh, who only signed his paintings with his first name, they dropped their last names - Armand Fernandez became Armand. In 1958, a gallery made a mistake in the spelling of his name, dropping the last "d." At first Armand was furious about it, but then he decided to be known as Arman.

Arman moved to Paris in 1949 to study archaeology and Asian Art at the Louvre. He also began painting in Surrealist and abstract styles. However, by 1958, Arman stopped making paintings, and began creating artistic "actions." Throughout the 1950s and '60s, Arman experimented with artistic activities, trying to link his work with everyday life. He made prints with rubber stamps and inked objects. In 1959, he began a series of works that he called "Accumulations"--collections or assemblages of like objects crammed together in boxes or vitrines. He did not arrange the objects, but simply let them fall randomly into place and settle over time. He said the element of chance was one of the raw materials in his work.

Arman and Klein became important avant-garde artists in Paris. They formed a group with other artists and labeled their work Nouveau Realisme (New Realism) because they were interested in new ways of seeing and thinking about real life and art. He said,

"In the search for a new creation...I have in a conscious manner explored my own local district (in Paris) for rubbish, waste, and scrapped manufactured goods: in a word, everything that is non-utilized. I affirm that the very expression of this rubbish and these objects has a distinctive worth of its own, without any attempt, on my part, at aesthetic arrangements that might make them lose their intrinsic value."

Throughout the rest of his career, Arman has worked with themes and techniques of "accumulations" and "destructions"--works of art in which he either smashed, sliced, burned or otherwise destroyed objects such as musical instruments, furniture, sculptural reproductions, and manufactured goods.

Through the 1970s, '80s and '90s Arman has also worked with public actions--art that is created for public display and participation. In 1982, he made the largest work yet titled "Long Term Parking." He created a concrete tower of 60 automobiles, which stands 65 feet high in front of a suburban Paris parking lot. He continues to challenge our ideas about art and everyday objects through his sculptures. In 1983 he said,

"I am a witness of my time. As an historical statement you are the fruit of your environment, but as an artist I am a witness of my time. Before it became an explosion, I sensed the invasion of objects. Probably more objects have been produced in the last ten years than in all the history of humanity before this time. This is the center of my thinking about things."

Vocabulary Terms

abstract--Art that looks as if it contains little or no recognizable or realistic forms from the physical world. Focus on formal elements such as colors, lines, or shapes. Artists often "abstract" objects by changing, simplifying, or exaggerating what they see.

assemblage--A three-dimensional collage created from a group of everyday objects, many times pre-made and put together in a specific way.
Surrealism--Movement in art and literature from 1924 to 1945 where artists attempted to give visual representation to dreams, fantasies, and the unconscious mind. Emphasized real objects in unreal situations, surprise, contradiction and shock.
vitrines--The French term meaning both showcases and also shop windows.

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