“Ever since my childhood, I was haunted by the search for perfection. An imperfectly cut paper literally made me ill, I would guillotine it. My collages came undone, they became blistered. I then introduced death and decay in my compositions. I reacted by avoiding any precision from one day to another. Instead of cutting the paper, I would tear it with my hands.”

Source: 1960s, Jours effeuillés: Poèmes, essaies, souvenirs (1966), p. 431

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Hans Arp42

Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist 1886–1966

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