Le Cyclop, 1969—1994

In the heart of the Milly Forest, near Fontainebleau, hides a work with multiple facets: Le Cyclop by Jean Tinguely. This mythological monster, into whose head the visitor is invited to enter, awakens and comes to life, offering a true experience of total art. This work is unique and exceptional in its size, technical prowess and artistic richness. Built essentially from recycled materials (metal, wood, shards of mirror, ceramics, etc.), it stands over 22 meters in height and weighs nearly 300 tons. Le Cyclop was born of Jean Tinguely's desire to create an unusual construction of architectural scale and to bring together the major artistic currents that had most marked him: Dada, New Realism, Kinetic Art and Art Brut. Without authorization and with their own funds, Jean Tinguely and his wife Niki de Saint Phalle began construction in 1969, inviting numerous artists to come and collaborate in a festive family atmosphere: a compression by César and an accumulation by Arman rub shoulders with a gauge by Jean-Pierre Raynaud, a sound-penetrable by Jesús Rafael Soto, and tributes to Marcel Duchamp and Yves Klein.