Theatre Fountain (Theaterbrunnen 1974) is a kinetic fountain by Jean Tinguely. It stands outside the Opera House in Basel, Switzerland. I remember seeing it twice, once in the spring when it was in full flow and once in winter when icicles had contributed their own sculptural grandeur to the work but had also slowed down or stopped most of the moving parts. I was taken with idea of a mechanical work of art first moving and then gradually frozen in time and space. As in much of his work, Tinguely...