THE most famous sculpture by Jean Tinguely will not be appearing in the retrospective of his work opening at Tate Liverpool in October.

As the 27ft-high mechanism was designed to destroy itself, it only lasted for a 27-minute performance at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1960.

Fortunately, there are still plenty of intriguing contraptions that have survived to feature in the Joyous Machines: Michael Landy and Jean Tinguely exhibition, which will run until January, 2010.

Tinguely (1925-1991) was one of the most radical, inventive and subversive sculptors of the mid-20th century. A founding member of the Nouveau Realistes, his work was playful, ironic and often anarchic.

The exhibition will be co-curated by renowned British artist Landy who, having seen the Tate Gallery’s Tinguely retrospective exhibition in 1982, has been significantly influenced by him and his constructive and destructive tendencies.

It will focus on Tinguely’s rarely examined early career.