Erwin Wurm
dal 22/9/2006 al 25/11/2006
Segnalato da
22/9/2006
Erwin Wurm
Ludwig Forum, Aachen
The artist who swallowed the world. Best known among the large public are his "one minute sculptures", photographically conserved situations where various protagonists expose themselves to sculptural actions for a short but crucial moment. Acrobatic poses and droll humour, profane implements and unspectacular places are the ingredients of these scenes.
The artist who swallowed the world
The Ludwig Forum fur Internationale Kunst will present the Vienna based artist Erwin
Wurm (*1954) in an exhibition that covers the past fifteen years of an oeuvre that
runs across all kinds of media and reference systems. Best known among the large
public are his "one minute sculptures", photographically conserved situations where
various protagonists expose themselves to sculptural actions for a short but crucial
moment. Acrobatic poses and droll humour, profane implements and unspectacular
places are the ingredients of these scenes. Though precisely staged by the artist
they can in principle be realised by anyone in any place. This approach, that might
be called popular in a broad sense, enables Erwin Wurm to extend his artistic ideas
and actions to the fields of fashion, advertising, consumption on the one hand and
philosophy, politics and art business on the other hand. The exhibition presents the
intertwined aspects of this multidimensional oeuvre in thematic rooms and encourages
the visitor to follow the drawn and written instructions of the artist.
The coat objects (1992), the instructions for weight increase ("How To Go From Men's
Size L To XL In 8 Days, 1993), the doubles in normal and fat (1993) and the
"Palmers" dress exercises (1997) demonstrate Erwin Wurm's interest in amorphous
physics and their medial presentation. The "One Minute Sculptures" (1997) are
followed by the "Outdoor Sculptures" that have been realised in different places
(Appenzell, Cahors, Taipeh, 1998-2000) and then lead to daring political
ironisations ("Instructions On How To Be Politically Incorrect") as well as the
"Instructions For Idleness" (2001) and Correlations of Philosophy and Digestion
(2004). A comprehensive series of drawings cites the metaphysical systems of
philosophers from Aristoteles to Adorno by simply giving their names and inviting
the visitor to think about them ("Thinking About", 2002). Finally, the centre of
interest turns to the art and the art business itself: "Curator - Imperator" (2005)
a walkable installation with plenty of instructions for visitors, "Adorno Was Wrong
With His Ideas About Art" (2006) or the most recent sculptures that have given the
exhibition its title and that ironically and symptomatically stand for how Erwin
Wurm sees himself: "The Artist Who Swallowed the World" (2006).
Harald Kunde
Opening: Friday September 22, 2006, 8 pm
Ludwig Forum
Julicher Strabe 97-109 - Aachen
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 12-6 pm