The Amusing Style Selections from the Collection of Pavel Zoubok and Paul A. Baglio Jr. 
24 July 2019
The Amusing Style Selections from the Collection of Pavel Zoubok and Paul A. Baglio Jr. 
160

Tom Sachs b.1966

Chess Set

2010
plastic, steel, magnets, printed cardboard, duct tape 3¼ h × 13 w × 10½ d in (8 × 33 × 27 cm)
estimate: $10,000–15,000
result: $8,750
follow artist
own a similar item?
free evaluation

Signed, titled, dated and numbered to board ‘Tom Sachs S/N#2009.098.001 2010 3/15’. Signed, title and dated to box 'Chess Set Tom Sachs 3/15'. This work is number 3 from the edition of 15. Sold with original box measuring: 2.75 h x 11.5 w x 9.25 d inches.

print

This unique chess set by Tom Sachs revolves around themes of the Space Race and the moon landing. The black pieces represent Russian cosmonauts and the white, American astronauts. Each game piece, which is magnetically held to the lunar-like, pocked-surface game board, features names of famous cosmonauts and astronauts. The original accompanying box for this set is a handmade, duct taped mashup of a Hermès box and a box for the Revell board game “First Lunar Landing”.

Everything in our lives is miraculously made with no idea of how it's done. As an active and critical consumer, and as someone who has attempted to make the flawless and failed, I wanted a transparency of construction here. If we know how it is made and how it falls apart, we will know how to rebuild it.

Tom Sachs

160