You too can be a sculpture
Austrian artist Erwin Wurm turns perceptions upside down in his Bangkok exhibition ‘The Philosophy of Instructions’
Gallery visitors usually get told off for touching the art on display, but, with Erwin Wurm’s “One Minute Sculptures”, some cuddling is required. Go ahead and unite with the works on view at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, but be quick because the |show, called “The Philosophy of Instructions”, ends on Sunday.
Irwin Wurm's exhibition “The Philosophy of Instructions” at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre from November 26, 2015-February 26, 2016. VDO/The Nation/Thanis Sudto
The Austrian artist encourages people to do more than just look at his or anyone else’s work. He believes direct physical contact lets you experience art – and yourself – in a whole new way.
There’s a two-seater chair in Wurm’s show, for example. It’s the type you might see in a doctor’s waiting room, but this one comes with instructions in diagram form. You’re directed to sit in it for 60 seconds – upside down, legs propped against the back of the chair, head hanging towards the floor.
There’s a two-seater chair in Wurm’s show, for example. It’s the type you might see in a doctor’s waiting room, but this one comes with instructions in diagram form. You’re directed to sit in it for 60 seconds – upside down, legs propped against the back of the chair, head hanging towards the floor.
Over there is a sweater, lying in a shapeless clump on a platform. The idea with this piece is that two people have to stand on the platform together and put the sweater on. It’s certainly roomy enough for two.
And, at the show’s opening in late November, Wurm and a young Thai attendee spread glue on their hands, knees and heads and pressed against each other, separated only by sheets of paper.
It’s all about how people and objects can be abruptly transformed, often in unexpected ways. Sitting topsy-turvy in a chair illustrates that easily enough. The bulky sweater turns two people into one and then, after a snapshot is taken as a reminder of the experience, the pullover is doffed and again becomes just another “dead” object strewn on the ground.
And, at the show’s opening in late November, Wurm and a young Thai attendee spread glue on their hands, knees and heads and pressed against each other, separated only by sheets of paper.
It’s all about how people and objects can be abruptly transformed, often in unexpected ways. Sitting topsy-turvy in a chair illustrates that easily enough. The bulky sweater turns two people into one and then, after a snapshot is taken as a reminder of the experience, the pullover is doffed and again becomes just another “dead” object strewn on the ground.
Fancy meeting you here: A simple pullover and the two people wearing it together as per instructions have all undergone a transformation. The Nation/Thanis Sudto
“In that moment of wearing the sculpture you become the sculpture,” says Wurm, 63. “You can relate to the sculpture despite your embarrassment and the ridiculousness of the situation. But if you follow the instructions very seriously, you become part of the reality and you see the object and the reality from another angle. It makes the reality shake and shift.”
There’s much more to the exhibition than making yourself an exhibit. There are videos, photographs and installations, and along a sinuous wall, dozens of drawings of more “One Minute Sculptures” that Wurm has created since 1997. This is his 20th anniversary turning gallery visitors into artworks, exploring participatory art. He often makes tongue-in-cheek commentary on social issues as well, using common household objects such as furniture.
There’s another sweater hanging from a wall by one sleeve, this one a pastel pink knit with a green stripe along the bottom. “Pink is related to the human body, while green is the colour of Austria,” says the man who has represented his country at the Venice Biennale along with fellow artist Brigitte Kowanz.
There’s much more to the exhibition than making yourself an exhibit. There are videos, photographs and installations, and along a sinuous wall, dozens of drawings of more “One Minute Sculptures” that Wurm has created since 1997. This is his 20th anniversary turning gallery visitors into artworks, exploring participatory art. He often makes tongue-in-cheek commentary on social issues as well, using common household objects such as furniture.
There’s another sweater hanging from a wall by one sleeve, this one a pastel pink knit with a green stripe along the bottom. “Pink is related to the human body, while green is the colour of Austria,” says the man who has represented his country at the Venice Biennale along with fellow artist Brigitte Kowanz.
“From Men’s Size 38 to Size 48 in Eight Days” The Nation/Thanis Sudto
In another room Wurm has set out “From Men’s Size 38 to Size 48 in Eight Days” – pages from an instruction book he used to control his diet (and the room temperature) so he could gain a lot of weight, all documented in mounted photos.
What was that all about? Wurm explained it for the ArtNet website. “When someone makes a sculpture out of clay, he adds volume and takes away volume. You could also say that gaining or losing weight is a sculptural work.”
A celebrated seven-minute-video he made a decade ago is on view, called “Tell”. It shows a couple driving through Vienna in a car. Just as they start discussing what might happen if they ate only one particular kind of sandwich, the car suddenly drives vertically up the front of a house. When it stops, they get out and walk back down.
Curator Pichaya Suphavanij says in the exhibition catalogue that Wurm’s sculptural works “offer various depths of philosophy” in a sublime way, giving the visitor a central role “to explore the critical state of self with lightness and humour”. The artist, Pichaya notes, “has a long history of investigating the possibilities in art of the relative planes of self in relation to the reality of contemporary society”.
What was that all about? Wurm explained it for the ArtNet website. “When someone makes a sculpture out of clay, he adds volume and takes away volume. You could also say that gaining or losing weight is a sculptural work.”
A celebrated seven-minute-video he made a decade ago is on view, called “Tell”. It shows a couple driving through Vienna in a car. Just as they start discussing what might happen if they ate only one particular kind of sandwich, the car suddenly drives vertically up the front of a house. When it stops, they get out and walk back down.
Curator Pichaya Suphavanij says in the exhibition catalogue that Wurm’s sculptural works “offer various depths of philosophy” in a sublime way, giving the visitor a central role “to explore the critical state of self with lightness and humour”. The artist, Pichaya notes, “has a long history of investigating the possibilities in art of the relative planes of self in relation to the reality of contemporary society”.
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS
- Erwin Wurm’s exhibition “The Philosophy of Instructions” continues through Sunday on the ninth floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
