Gilbert & George Singing Sculpture Wooden Toy

Don’t call it performance art: In 1971, Gilbert & George—artists in MoMA’s collection—debuted Singing Sculpture, a piece where the duo danced robotically to “Under the Arches,” played on a tape recorder. (They called it “living sculpture.”) Based on vintage push toys, this small object lets you send the artists’ puppet doppelgängers into a dance dip.

Artists Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore met in 1967 and shortly afterward they began taking photos of each other holding small-scale sculptures, and also without. They quickly decided that they didn't need the sculptures because they themselves were the works of art—"living sculptures" as they like to call themselves. "At that moment that we decided we are art and life, every conversation with people became art, and still is." Gilbert & George have over 80 works in MoMA's collection and have been featured in numerous exhibitions at the Museum.