An aeroplane in the sky, a white silhouette in the wide open blue, moving, distorted, relaxed again, pulled out of shape again. Accompanied by high, piping noises, not disagreeable, more like some cute little animal, coming and going. The invention of the animals? What kind of a title is this, much too heavy with content for such a light-spirited work. _ No less fraught with meaning, the title of the frottages Max Ernst developed and published between 1923 and 26: Histoire Naturelle - Natural History. He invented a very unusual process for artistic production, a variation of which was already described by Leonardo da Vinci: the recording of a structure, of wood or stone for example, by applying a piece of paper and rubbing a pencil on it. With this method, Ernst produced images showing unfamiliar aspects of nature. His Natural History was a puzzle, a game toying with the oscillations of meaning which can be contained in a single form. Undoubtedly, this unanimity of form and impression is where Robert’s work may be linked to Ernst. The aeroplane, clearly discernible as such, turns into a bird, without relinquishing its original meaning of “aeroplane”. The sound metamorphoses into birdsong without ever really sounding like that. With this work, Robert questions common classifications, such as are often necessary in everyday life and are familiar to us from our first day on. On one hand these constructs are helpful, on the other hand these notions based on rational reason and dualism often get in the way of more encom­ passing modes of thinking and perceiving. It is very fitting that there is no final edition of the work’s loop, but that it constantly re-edits itself via its software.