On the night of 26 August 1986, lightning struck the house of the Daflon farmers, Jean Tinguely's neighbours in Neyruz. After the fire had gone out, he began to transport objects salvaged from the fire debris to his studio. Tinguely recounted that he had been obsessed with the material, which had been given a special appearance by the large quantity of burnt hay. The Mengele Dance of Death was first installed in the Church of San Samuele for the 1987 retrospective in Venice.
