Tom Sachs

March 17—Tom Sachs, described by Emma Allen for the New Yorker as a “mix of mad scientist, obsessive tinkerer, cult guru, taskmaster general, starry-eyed theoretician, and workout champion,” is an original advocate of bricolage, or DIY, and one of today’s most inspiring and influential sculptors. Best known for elaborate and innovative re-creations of various Modern icons, re-creations that are masterpieces of engineering and design of one kind or another, Sachs explains, “I’m obsessed with innovation. It’s like that David Foster Wallace thing: If you worship money, you’ll always feel poor. If you worship beauty, you’ll always feel ugly. If you worship power, you always feel powerless. I worship innovation and I always feel like I’m not doing enough new stuff. That’s my impulsiveness.”

With his current exhibition Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective 1999–2015 on view at The Contemporary Austin, Sachs joins us for this Tuesday Evenings presentation, sharing the work and ideas that have garnered him a devoted and noted following.

This popular series of lectures and presentations by artists, architects, historians, and critics is free and open to the public each Tuesday beginning again in September. Lectures begin at 7 pm in the Museum’s auditorium. Seating begins at 6:30 pm and is limited to 250; a live broadcast of the presentations is shown in Café Modern for any additional guests. Free admission tickets (limit two) are available at the Modern’s information desk beginning at 5 pm on the day of the lecture. The Museum galleries remain open until 7 pm on Tuesday evenings during the series.

Café Modern serves cocktails, salads, and appetizers on Tuesday nights during the lecture series.

Image: Tape Dispenser, 2012. Mixed media, 4.75 H x 9.25 W x 3.25 D inches