Arman is one of the most important international object artists and a co-founder and member of the Nouveau Réalisme. He was interested in common objects as works of art. First he did what came to be called his allures dobjet (object impressions) where he would dip an object into paint and press it on canvas; thereby leaving the object's shadow or impression. Then he figured the object itselt was worth paying attention to and he started to treat them in his own way.

Arman's way of treating objects is very special: his intention is to remove the material function of an object so that as a work of art its only possible function is to feed the mind and not serve a material purpose anymore. What better way could he find to achieve that result than by breaking, slicing or even burning objects such as a violin, telephone, typewriter or even a whole car. He also makes objects useless by accumulating them (2,000 wrist watches in a plexiglass box are fun to watch but not very functional unless you like to pick your time). The interesting fact is that once emotionally detached from the circumstances associated with a broken violin, one-can grow to appreciate its abstract beauty; and, in a sense, Arman is literally teaching you that things you never thought could be regarded as attractive can indeed turn out to be very aesthetic. Because of this achievement, Arman has come to full worldwide recognition. His prints and posters have been used to promote international music festivals, i.e., Luxembourg-1978. Arman has had over 30 one-man shows in museums all over the world, many TV interviews, and innumerable articles about his work.