Welcome to Inspiration Nation, the world’s premier source for arts criticism, awareness, appreciation, and analysis. That’s right—all that, right here, no paywall, and no degree required. Read on for some serious culture.
This week, we delve into a particularly intriguing European scene. Maybe, like us, you’ve found yourself wondering where all the pickle motifs are in the fine art world? Why haven’t their slick green skins been fetishized along with the common muses filling the Tate or the Louvre, like the nude female form, bowls of fruit, and baby Jesus?
Erwin Wurm is here to stop this criminal omission. An Austrian artist whose work spans sculpture, performance, and installation, Wurm’s most consistent characteristic is his wit, although his art is not a joke. Wurm notes, “I just take another perspective on…reality.” [Stillman Meyer, 2012]. Indeed.
Perhaps his most iconic work centers around the humble pickle.
Erwin Wurm
What does it mean? Does he just really love pickles? Is it socio-political commentary that’s going over our heads? Wurm seems to use pickles as a form of reflection and to poke at the idea of self-portraiture, saying admiringly that “cucumbers are an age-old non-shape. There are millions of different cucumbers. No cucumber is the same as the next, rather like people. That appeals me a great deal.” [Schirn Mag, 2016]
If one doesn’t care to dwell on the sharp existential provocation of a gallery of pickles, consider instead the impressive technical details behind the casting and creation of these verdant angels. For some projects, individual gherkins were lovingly coated in resin. What do you think is happening inside the resin coats right now? Biologist readers, please feel free to weigh in on this Schrodinger’s pickle situation.
Do you want to avoid pickles altogether? There’s plenty more to see.
Some work with a difference perspective
Our favorite non-pickled series is One Minute Sculptures, an ongoing project that can be enjoyed via video, photo, and/or performance. (In any performance setting, the threat of being forced into audience participation horrifies us, so we stick to the non-live experiences.) Wurm provides a participant with written instructions on how to interact with some random objects and then hold a particular pose, therefore becoming, for a brief moment in time, a sculpture:
Erwin Wurm
Seeing these sculptures forces the viewer (that’s us!) to consider where the work begins and ends, both in the performance vs. documentation sense and in the human vs. object sense. The absurd-looking contortions make for striking still-lifes, but it’s worth checking out the videos to see the behind-the-scenes struggle, and maybe even taking a stab at making your own one-minute sculpture. Re-creating these sculptures at home shifts your idea of your body in space and refreshes the possibilities of your environment. You will never look at that bucket or chair in the same way. It’s also a solidly entertaining activity when babysitting, although obviously some sculptures are safer than others.
Erwin Wurm
If you like this particular artistic avenue, may we suggest checking out the spiritually adjacent work of Fredrik Raddum or some of the treasures contained in the Vigeland sculpture park? Take a peek and you’ll see what we mean; there are fewer pickles but the same rewarding appreciation of the bizarre.
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