Erwin Wurm
:
Schloss in Waidhofen an der Ybbs
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Erwin Wurm, awarded the Monsignore Otto Mauer award at the age of 30, is considered one of the key Austrian contemporary artists, having contributed significantly to the extensions and transformation of the notion of sculpture. His early work is characterised by trivial materials, such as concrete, sheet metal or rubber while engaging with the classical principles of sculpture.
In the 1990s he developed entirely new sculptural forms that lead strongly into the realm of the object. Everyday items, such as cars, frequently lead him to new sculptural lines of thought. Lastwagen or Most (Lorry; Cider) are the banal titles for an object completed for Waidhofen an der Ybbs as part of the Landesausstellung 2007. The irritation of our perception of the everyday is one of the key intentions. Here the heavy goods vehicle (frequently used to transport cider) is bent at a right angle with the trailer pointing upwards. The ironic approach to prefabricated items plays as significant a role as the subversion of physical phenomena, such as gravity. So too, the defunctionalisation of mass-manufactured objects like cars (Fat Car being the title of another work in this context) is a further aspect of the reflection on the object, space and time. The objects look like they plot against standard forms of use of items. Erwin Wurm succeeds in raising the boundaries between the everyday and art, and gaining new perspectives on both in a critical but humorous manner.
(Carl Aigner)
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