Born in Switzerland in 1925.
He is a leading artist of kinetic art (known officially as Métamatics), known for using waste to create sculptures that move like machines. He was heavily influenced byDadaism and was also a member of Nouveau Realism, an art movement born in France after World War II.
In 1954 he held his first solo exhibition in Paris. He presented a piece that rotates while emittingsound.

In 1959 he created the automatic drawing machine "Metamatic". This is a device with a pen attached to the tip of a device that moves irregularly on a whim, and automatically draws an abstract picture. The gigantic "Metamatic" presented at the Paris Youth Biennale that year produced about 20,000 drawings during the session.

In 1960, he was involved in the formation of Nouveau Realism and participated in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Audiences are naturally involved in Tinguely's work and experience the ironical "hymn" of 20th century civilization.
He died in Bern in 1991.