Colère de Paganini (2004) brings together two recurring elements in Arman’s practice: the musical instrument and its deliberate destruction.

A burnt violin and bow are embedded in transparent polyester resin and enclosed within a Plexiglas casing, preserving the fragmented instrument as both object and trace of an action. The work transforms an everyday cultural object into a sculptural composition, suspended between destruction and conservation.

The violin occupies a particularly important place in Arman’s work. Through his celebrated accumulations and destructions of musical instruments, he repeatedly challenged the boundary between functional objects and works of art.

Produced in an edition of 100, Colère de Paganini reflects this long-standing exploration of the object through fragmentation, transformation and preservation.