Mechaniks Bench
- Artist: Sir Eduardo Paolozzi
- Date: 1963
- Medium: Aluminium
- Dimensions: object: 1765 x 1838 x 483 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the *Mechaniks Bench* by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. Created in 1963, it’s an aluminium sculpture that looks like a table built from real machine parts. Paolozzi was obsessed with the early‑1960s machine age, and he wanted to strip away any “arty” flair. Instead he aimed for an impersonal, engineered feel. The bench is a collage of castings taken from ordinary machine components and shapes he designed himself. He described the raw materials as “things that nobody would give a second glance” – and then fought to turn those anonymous scraps into a poetic idea. It’s a quiet reminder that even in a mechanical world, an artist can find a hidden narrative in the simplest of parts.
See it in person
Mechaniks Bench is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
