One Minute Sculptures

One Minute Sculptures are a type of sculpture created by Erwin Wurm. In them Wurm takes readymade objects he has appropriated and quickly puts them in a unique construct, generally involving his body.  They are not quite to my taste but regardless of that I have chosen to write on the One Minute Sculpture that I saw at the Henry Art Gallery.

I chose to write about the One Minute Sculpture by Erwin Wurm where he is balancing teacups on his feet. In the video we can see Wurm lying on his back, with his legs raised against a wall. On the soles of his shoes he is balancing a porcelain teacup on each foot. The room in which he is doing this is devoid of anything apart from Wurm and the teacups, the room is poorly lit and the camera used is fairly low definition.

My recreation of the One Minute Sculpture being discussed. I used paper cups in place of teacups, since I didn't want to risk breaking any of my tea cups. furthermore I turned the cups upside-down and stuck them on my feet because they kept falling off before the picture could get taken.

Wurm is clearly a successor to Marcel Duchamp based on how is sculptures are made. Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain was the first work of the readymade field.  The One Minute Sculptures are part of the readymade field since none of One Minute Sculptures are made using specially made materials. In the sculpture I chose Wurm appropriated the tea cups, which in their normal context would just be thought of as rather nice cups. However in their new context observers think more about the cups appearance and possible meanings the cups could have when balanced atop a man’s feet.

Wurm’s works, One Minute Sculptures, are considered sculptures; however some might argue that they are dioramas. Erwin Wurm’s works do meet the definition for being sculptures; they are three dimensional and as such they possess mass and volume, they have negative space, they are made of physical materials, and give the observer a physical experience. However dioramas have all these characteristics too, the difference between the two is that sculptures have a three hundred and sixty degree experience, while a diorama can only be experienced from one direction. The reason for the uncertainty is that though one could witness Wurm One Minute Sculptures in person and get the 360 degree experience, the video of his work shown at the Henry Art Gallery was of Wurm doing these works by himself with a stationary camera. Therefore since the camera was stationary the works could only be experienced from one angle making them more like a video diorama then a proper sculpture.

Mark Dion, Landfill, 1999-2000. Diorama made from a shipping crate filled with garbage. It is an example of a traditional diorama which is what I am comparing Erwin Wurm's work to.

The subject seems to be the precarious position of high society. Teacups are something generally symbolic of high society, due to its association with European Imperialism. Therefore by putting two on such and unstable position it demonstrates how unstable high society is. However another level of symbolism is apparent do to his using his own body as the base. By placing the tea cups atop his feet whilst his body was in such an uncomfortable position one could interpret that as a metaphor for how high society or the elite, build their glory and prestige through the subjugation of those they force beneath themselves.