This Art Basel Conversation took place in Basel on June 13th 2012.

Participants in the discussion were:

Heinz Mack, artist
Otto Piene, artist
Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator, Serpentine gallery London.

This Art Basel Conversation between Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist focused on the artists' work as the founders of the Zero movement. The artists discuss the development of their artistic practice, their philosophical direction, and their personal friendships and collaborations with other artists.

In the 1950s, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker invited artists to exhibit in their studio in Dusseldorf, and these activities grew into the foundation of the Zero movement, which came to involve artists throughout Europe. The Zero art movement made a significant mark on the art of the post-war period by developing and presenting new pictorial and formal language. Working in an environment without galleries or other established spaces for contemporary art, artists cooperated to exhibit their works in a series of short-duration exhibitions and events.

Artists such as Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein and Lucio Fontana played key roles in the activities of the Zero movement. They worked with artists as far away as Asia such as the artists’ group Gutai, who also strived to create art outside the constraints of a dominant or censorious social order.