Designboom
November 24, 2011
Erwin Wurm: Business of Beauty at Art Basel Miami Beach 2011
By Designboom
Austrian artist Erwin Wurm presents 'Beauty Business' at the Bass Museum of Art as part of Art Basel Miami Beach 2011. 'Beauty Business' was created by the artist as a group of participatory pieces for this exhibition. Wurm's series consists of several sculptural works that possess a theatrical, humorous and philosophical quality. The essence of each piece focuses upon notions of 'home' and 'dwelling'; the viewer's emotional response to the altered architectural works is the artist's aim.
'A dwelling is an in-between space where one may hesitate between worlds. The activity of dwelling is therefore a contemplative lingering-- a way of remaining in a space or location that is responsive to the nature of that particular space or location that is responsive to the nature of that particular place, and open to whatever happens to trigger our imagination; through association, through fantasies, daydreams, desires, or memories'. -Lehmann Maupin in reference to Erwin Wurm's exhibition, 'Beauty Business'?
In his typical style, the two works entitled 'architecture' are formed from wooden braces dressed in sweaters-- a playful approach to a formal form. each fashion piece, typically associated with warmth and security, are stretched and altered, creating a more dynamic and presence within the gallery space.
'Home I' and 'Home II' consist of two bronze coats, filled with tension as the movement of the work seems to be suspended in time; Wurm's focus upon the lingering nature of dwelling is embodied in these sculptural forms. 'Mies van der Rohe - Melting' is a skyscraper-like sculpture, flooding into the floor space from it's base, 'Home - Gulp', consisting of a similar initial form, instead forms a rounded opening where the base of the tower extends from the primary form. Rather than sinking into the floor space of the room, 'Kuhfladen', a single story dwelling, appears to grow from an earthen mound.