To watch the rest of the “Inside the Biennale” series, visit bit.ly/2tLmY13.
At the Austrian Pavilion, visitors are invited to perform a series of playful 60-second tasks—like sticking their limbs through furniture or poking their heads in a pair of stuffed pants—and thereby activate readymade objects into works of sculpture-cum-performance. The exhibition is a mini-retrospective of Erwin Wurm’s iconic “One Minute Sculptures,” which have charmed the art world by bringing a refreshing dose of humor and levity into galleries since their debut in 1997. Inside the pavilion’s austere white interior, Wurm presents a retro caravan with holes cut out of its surface and its contents—furniture, clothing, and luggage—splayed out on the floor for visitors to activate with their bodies.
Though undeniably fun, the work also addresses a timely global topic: human mobility, from the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa in the Stone Age to mass tourism in Europe in the 1970s. In particular, Wurm explores the profound effect of the vehicle on this history. For the artist, the caravan represents both an immobile dwelling and a means of transportation—“an instrument with which you can take your home with you, and travel to another country,” as he describes. Transforming passive viewers into active participants, Wurm hopes that his use of humor, rather than obscuring meaningful engagement, can awaken audiences and trigger a careful examination of collective issues.
Featuring Erwin Wurm
Produced by Scenic
Production Team for Scenic:
Gary Hustwit, Maya Tippett, Jarrard Cole, Lucy Raven, Enrico Lenarduzzi
Production Team for Artsy:
Marina Cashdan, Head of Editorial and Creative Director
Owen Dodd, Designer
Demie Kim, Assistant Project Manager
Alexxa Gotthardt, Staff Writer
Sound mix: Mike Frank
Colorist: Nat Jencks
Music: Arp
