Takis Unlimited

Television (Full Length) – 1969

This BBC2-screened film is a look at the European art world of the late 1960s, and a meditation on the nature of art and the pricing of art, shot by Tony Williams. The origins of this film are suitably cosmopolitan. It was initiated by an Iranian student – and underwritten by Jeremy Fry from Cadbury Fry Hudson. Its focus is Takis, a Greek artist who creates kinetic sculptures out of discarded electronic objects (at times reminiscent of Len Lye’s work), and plans to mass produce cheaper versions of his work to make his art accessible. But will it still be art?

There is a relationship between art and commerce. The idea of an artist living on the edge of starvation in a garret somewhere is absurd. As absurd for the old masters, the great masters, as it is for Mr Takis.
– From the film