From February 20 to March 10, 1981 Galerie St Petri,
Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art in Lund,
Sweden invited people in and around Lund to participate i
n a manifestation called Les Machines en Panne (Broken Machines).
Everyone could bring to the gallery any broken machine they had,
whether an electric tooth brush, airplane, car, bulldozer or
whatever they had access to in a non-function-ing state.
Even if the things were not brought to the gallery every
broken piece in an area of 35 km was considered
as a part of the exhibition.
The idea was to
visualize a state of being transcending everyday
reasoning and perception. The broken machine was not
alive,dead or ill but in a state of waiting and
thereby contained all possibilities
of becoming. The exhibition was initiated by
Jean Sellem and documented by Marie Sjöberg.