Lot 286: Kramer, Harry 1925 Lingen - 1997 Kassel KM 123 (Automobile Sculpture)1963.

Mixed media (Wire, electromotors), on wooden box.
109 x 55 x 70cm. Titled and dated bottom side: "KM 123 1963".

The object is fully functional and is to be operated by switch.

Harry Kramer participated in the documenta III.
Kramer's biographiy is rather unusual. He started as a hair dresser and found his way to art via dance. In Paris he made himself known with his wire sculptures. These sculptures made of fine wire presented a counter-image to a world devoted to technics in which everything has to be smooth, perfect and stable. In contrast, Kramer's spheric objects appeared clumsy and weird. The circles and wheels weren't circular but could only give a vague hint at the form they were supposed to have. They imitated machines without revealing the machines' functions. Small electromotors provided the drive but they didn't generate anything but idle running. The world of machines slipped into the absurd. (translated and quoted after: Dirk Schwarze, Meilensteine: 50 Jahre documenta. Kunstwerke und Künstler, Berlin 2005, p. 46).