On January 3, 1969, Greek kinetic sculptor Takis, supported by friends, removed his Tele-sculpture from MoMA's exhibition The Machine at the End of the Mechanical Age. Although MoMA owned the 1960 work, Takis objected that the museum had selected it without consulting him and that it no longer represented his current practice. He carried it to the sculpture garden and stayed until museum officials confirmed it would be withdrawn. The action became the immediate catalyst for meetings at the Chelsea Hotel among artists, critics, curators, and writers, leading to the Art Workers' Coalition and its demands for artist rights, museum accountability, fair representation, and free public access.
The protest helped launch institutional critique as organized museum activism in New York.
