{"id":13200,"date":"2013-04-09T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zatista.com\/blog\/?p=13200"},"modified":"2016-07-19T20:41:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T20:41:52","slug":"everyday-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zatista.ca\/blog\/2013\/04\/09\/everyday-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Claes<\/a>

Claes Oldenburg\u2019s Floor Burger, 1962 photo: Sean Weaver<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1967, Claes Oldenburg\u2019s big lovable burger sculpture called Floor Burger (1962), was not necessarily well received at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. People stood in front of the gallery with signs reading \u2018Don\u2019t Burger Up Our Gallery,\u2019\u201d says Shiralee Hudson Hill, an interpretive planner at the gallery.<\/p>\n

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Dropped Cone 2001 by Claes Oldenburg Cologne, Germany<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Art News, “Today, \u201cthe burger\u201d is one of the museum\u2019s most popular works. And the painted canvas sculpture, which recently underwent a major restoration, will be among the works included in the show \u201cClaes Oldenburg: The Street and the Store,\u201d opening at the Museum of Modern Art this weekend.”<\/a><\/p>\n

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Garden Hose 1983 by Claes Oldenburg Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFloor Burger\u2019s form is very well-constructed,\u201d says AGO conservator Sherry Phillips. \u201cOldenburg\u2019s first wife, Patty, sewed all the pieces together.\u201d But they needed to address the inside of the sculpture. \u201cThe burger\u2019s stuffing\u2014chunks of foam and, surprisingly, cardboard ice-cream cartons\u2014has fared well, but the pieces shifted, leaving the sculpture with an uneven appearance,\u201d Phillips explains. \u201cWe used archival images of the piece for comparison, and gently pushed and pulled the stuffing to create a better-defined \u2018burger\u2019 shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Spoonbrigde and Cherry 1988 by Claes Oldenburg Minneapolis, Minnesota<\/p><\/div>\n

Oldenburg admits, \u201cI was more concerned with the effect of the piece as I was making it rather than its future conservation,\u201d adding, \u201cWe were careful to use high-grade materials, but still the result is a lot of people work in art restoration now because works from that period are starting to need attention.\u201d The 84-year-old artist explains why he decided to use ice-cream cartons as stuffing. \u201cI started with the foam, but found it was weighing the sculpture down,\u201d he says, \u201cso we used the empty boxes to make it lighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Binoculars 1991 by Claes Oldenburg, Santa Monica, CA<\/p><\/div>\n

Many urban legends about Floor Burger circulate at the AGO, including early reports of visitors jumping on it, expecting it to be cushiony like a beanbag chair. There are also tales about the pickle that sits on the burger\u2019s bun. According to one story, the pickle disappeared in the early \u201970s, and Oldenburg flew to Toronto with a replacement, claiming it was a travel pillow to get it through customs. \u201cThe pickle is made differently from the rest of Floor Burger,\u201d says Phillips. \u201cThere\u2019s a different type of paint, so it could have been a later addition or substitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shuttlecocks 1994 by Claes Oldenburg Kansas City, MO<\/p><\/div>\n

Oldenburg laughs upon hearing this. \u201cThat sounds like it could be true,\u201d he says. \u201cBut like a lot of things, I can\u2019t remember for sure. I do recall that the sides of the pickle are covered with a shinier paint than the rest, so it looks wet like a pickle. But that is still a very convincing story. I\u2019ll have to look in my diaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tumbling Tacks 2009 by Claes Oldenburg Norway<\/p><\/div>\n

Oldenburg is best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife of 32 years, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009.<\/p>\n

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