Opening reception: 29th January, 6 - 9pm

“The question that has pervaded my work for four decades now is the following: can I use the idea of the sculptural to process everyday life and our time and to gain a new perspective or a new possibility for interpretation?”
—Erwin Wurm

Perhaps the best way to approach the main concept behind Erwin Wurm's career is to ask ourselves what he means by "the idea of ​​sculptural." Is the “sculptural” intrinsically linked to concepts such as stillness, volume, and time? Undoubtedly, the Austrian artist's internationally renowned career suggests otherwise. In One Day Yes / One Day No, Erwin Wurm invites us to question our own preconceived perspective through new and recent work. With his unmistakable and paradoxical approach to our contemporary society, he gives us the opportunity to perceive reality in a different way. Perhaps even to "sculpt" time and our collective memory of everyday life with a new gaze.

In this exhibition, One Minute Sculptures—located on the gallery's mezzanine—operates as the conceptual pillar. In this piece, Erwin Wurm “uses simple props and instructions inviting the public to hold specific positions for one-minute. Often placed in an awkward or paradoxical relationship to the presented objects, the participating viewer becomes part of the sculpture for an ephemeral time.” Though it is not necessary to adhere strictly to the time span of a minute, it is merely a time frame for a ‘short time’. When participating in One Minute Sculptures, we become active subjects who are part of the exhibition, and therefore, we develop the opportunity to embody Erwin’s idea of sculpture.

In the main gallery, ten majestic plants dressed in secondhand clothing compose One Day Yes / One Day No. Inspired by the Taipei in One Minute exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in 2020, these anthropomorphic sculptures will share a slow choreography in search of the natural light filtered through the second-floor windows. Due to the nature of the medium chosen in these sculptures —plants: living organisms, yet to the human eye they appear as static, unmoving —leads us to examine not only the intrinsic relationship between the concept of time and change, but also all the contextual factors that allow, and sometimes even drive, such change. Our interactions, body temperature, breathing, paths, and movements throughout the gallery will cause a change in the behaviour of the plants, just as their individual, compelling need to reach for the light does. Once again, Wurm's work blurs the line between spectator and participant, underscoring the importance that society and the collective exert on the individual.

In the courtyard, gigantic and erected like a pole is Cucumber (2020). Without a doubt, pickles (as well as sausages) have become the most repeated symbol throughout the artist's remarkable career. Even used as a sign of identity or as the artist's signature, Wurm is fully aware of the connotations of these sculptures (often enlarged scales, grotesque positions or absurd contexts). In Wurm’s words: “Rather like potatoes, cucumbers are an age-old non-shape. There are millions of different cucumbers. No cucumber is the same as the next, rather like people. That appeals me a great deal.” Certainly, this nearly 3-meter-tall sculpture, visible from the streets near the gallery, sets the tone and the starting point for the exhibition.

If, as he says, “Sculpture is everything”, delving into One Day Yes / One Day No results in the exhibition “sculpturing” us as both observers and participants, both figuratively and physically. In this ephemeral instant, Wurm’s work allows us to reflect on our own participation and interpretation of everything that surrounds us.

Erwin Wurn's Biography:

Erwin Wurm (b. 1954 in Bruck an der Mur, Austria) graduated from University of Graz, Austria, in 1977, and University of Applied Art and Academy of Fine Art, Vienna in 1982. lives and works in Vienna and Limberg, Austria. Over the course of his career, Erwin Wurm has radically expanded conceptions of sculpture, questioning its notions of time, mass and surface, abstraction and representation. Erwin Wurm came to prominence with his One Minute Sculptures, began in 1996/1997. In these works, Wurm gives instructions to participants that indicate actions or poses to perform with everyday objects such as chairs, buckets, fruit or sweaters. These sculptures are by nature ephemeral and by incorporating photography and performance into the process Wurm challenges the formal qualities of the medium as well as the boundaries between performance and daily life, spectator and participant.

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