Monday, November 21, 2011

Silver Cellophane-Wrapped Candy Art Installation by Felix Gonzalez-Torres at MoMA


On exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art is an expanse of an "endless supply" of candies individually wrapped in silver cellophane. The shimmering installation is  called "Untitled" (Placebo). Visitors are invited to take a piece of candy from the pile which is eventually replenished. The process represents continuous depletion and regeneration. The installation was created by the artist after his partner died of AIDS-related complications in 1991.  González-Torres was considered within his time to be a process artist due to the nature of his 'removable' installations by which the process is a key feature to the installation. He is best known for understated intstallations using everyday materials such as lightbulbs, newspapers and candy. Many of his installations invite the viewer to take a piece of the work with them: a series of works allow viewers to take packaged candies from a pile in the corner of an exhibition space and, in so doing, contribute to the slow disappearance of the installation over the course of the exhibition.

No comments: