Expectations of Sculpture and Time

            Art has long had the reputation as a laborious and tedious process, including long hours in the studio paying close attention to detail and formal elements. However, since the beginning of the Modern Art movement at the turn on the 20th century and Marcel Duchamp’s presentation of the readymade – mass produced, common – objects, this notion of the art process has been challenged. Contemporary artists continue to push the defining, yet expanding, boundaries of the art process. One artist in particular, Erwin Wurm, pushes these boundaries to the limits, using his body and found readymade objects to create sculptures in 60 seconds. These sculptures, however, aren’t just pieces to be looked at, but pieces to be experienced. Erwin Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures challenge both the definition of sculpture, as well as the expectations of the artmaking process. It is the appropriation – or reinterpretation of a concept in a new context – of these everyday objects and acts within the gallery that explore the definition of art and the art process.

            I went to the Test Site at the Henry Art Gallery, which displayed a forty-seven minute video of a compilation of Erwin Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures. In each sculpture, Wurm challenges himself to create a composition and hold it for a full sixty seconds. Some of Wurm’s sculptures include balancing three oranges atop each other or placing a banana between cabinet doors. However, most often Erwin Wurm places himself within these sculptures, often balancing objects on his body. This begs the question, “What makes these ‘sculptures’ sculptures?” Again, society’s expectations of sculptures stem from traditional art pieces – a realistic marble statue, such as Michelangelo’s David perhaps.  Traditional media include marble, metal, wood, glass or maybe even plastic. But Erwin’s pieces are usually made of none of these. A sculpture is any three-dimensional artwork having height, width and depth made of physical materials that has both positive and negative space. A sculpture should be able to be experience physically and viewed from 360 degrees. Even though, Wurm includes his own body in his pieces, and composes his works in 60 seconds, his works still fit into the definition of sculpture. Three dimensional? Check. Positive and negative space? Check. Viewable from 360 degrees? Check.

            The exhibit of the One Minute Sculptures seemed to promote viewer interactivity with the work; next to the video lay several props, such as tennis balls, bucks, and a table, that were seen him Wurm’s film. So I tried emulating one of the sculptures depicted in the video myself. I attempted holding up three bottles by placing them between my body and a wall.

            From the viewer’s perspective, this sculpture is of a live, teenage girl leaning in toward a large, flat wall. Between her body and wall are three glass soda bottles, creating horizontal rhythm and repetition. However, I thought I just stated I was the viewer. From my perspective, I see a large flat, white wall and a bottle below me at chest level. I can’t move or view the sculpture from 360 degrees. So the real question is who is the viewer? Who is the creator? I’m both the viewer and the creator, but there are outside viewers, too.

            We just determined that these pieces are sculptures, and sure they are, but they are much more than that. Erwin Wurm’s sculptures are not merely three-dimensional objects to be observed, but are works of performance art. Wurm creates sculptures, but the piece itself is the act of creating these sculptures. The piece itself is a performance. One Minute Sculptures aren’t meant to be analyzed visually, but the acts themselves are meant to bring about a conversation. These acts are short – only lasting a minute long – and simple, begging the viewer to be inspired to become the creator of their own piece.

            What I take from this conversation is that art can be experienced, and can be experienced by anyone, in any place, in any space. Anyone can grab a few common objects and create a scene, juxtaposing themselves with these objects. Art can have a lifespan and life within time. Therefore, these normal 3D sculptures have become 4D sculptures, only existing in an instance. While paintings and other classic forms of art are forever (sorry, Diamonds), these works are not.

            Erwin Wurm, like many other contemporary artists, challenges what defines art, making the viewer the creator of the pieces as well. He is not doing anything special that any common person couldn’t do, (a stereotype of what defines art), but to me, that’s the point. Wurm’s work has most definitely made a mark in the contemporary art world, which is still continually changing. The boundaries of art are becoming increasingly more vague as contemporary artists, such as Erwin Wurm, explore and redefine the meaning of the art making process.

Erwin Wurm, Untitled from his One Minute Sculptures, 1997. Body, pens, film canisters, stapler.

Artist Erwin Wurm puts pens in his ears and nose and holds the pose for 60 seconds.

Erwin Wurm, Untitled from his One Minute Sculptures, 1997. Body and plastic bucket.

A snapshot of the 47 minute video of One Minute Sculptures. Artist Wurm stands on a bucket with a bucket on his head for 60 seconds.

Zorah Fung, Untitled, 2012. Body, glass bottles, wall.

My interpretation of one of Erwin Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures