The GES-2 blade: who created it?

Contents:

• Mastering the sense of light, air, and space to choose a shade of blue
• Klass Oldenburg and the art of the everyday in poetry

At Bolotnaya Embankment, 15, A seven-meter-tall red garden trowel was installed directly opposite the GES-2 cultural center. Curator Francesco Bonami thus continued the concept begun with the "Big Clay No. 4" project. He noted that while "Clay" symbolized a pure, primordial substance, "Spatula" represents the Neolithic era, when humanity began sedentary life and cultivating the land.

The sculpture reaches a height of over seven meters and weighs 1,043 kilograms. Moscow residents have already appreciated it: it is colorful, cheerful, and evokes positive emotions.

The Plantoir trowel, made of aluminum, reinforced plastic, and steel, was exhibited in the rooftop garden of the Metropolitan Museum in New York from May to November 2002. It was subsequently acquired by Meredith, publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, to commemorate its centennial and installed on its property. Over time, the shovel fell into the hands of an unknown owner and now resides in the GES-2 garden. By the way, this is not the only copy: there are also other variants - red and blue, as well as paddles of various sizes, including large and medium.

Let's meet Oldenburg and van Bruggen, two preeminent figures in the world of art and architecture. These masters are known for their unique projects that have left a significant mark on the cultural environment. Their creative contribution is not limited to just a few works; they have many significant buildings and projects behind them that are worth telling. We will present only a few of them to reflect the scope of their talent and creativity.

Mastering the Sense of Light, Air, and Space to Choose the Shade of Blue

Let's start with Cauchier. She completed her studies and received a Master's degree in Art History from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, which operated from 1942 to 2009. Between 1967 and 1971, she worked as an assistant curator of painting and sculpture at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

There, she collaborated with artists representing the Light and Space movement, such as Doug Wheeler and Larry Bell, and also interacted with figures of the Dutch avant-garde.

She later held a position as a lecturer in art history and contemporary artistic practices at the Academy of Fine Arts in Enschede.

In 1976, when Claes Oldenburg's first trowel, Trowel I (1971), was installed at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands, van Bruggen suggested changing the color of the sculpture to bright blue, as opposed to the originally intended silver tones. She was already familiar with the work, as the trowel was first presented at the Sonsbeek 71 exhibition, which took place in various locations across the country. Oldenburg accepted her proposal, and they began working together.

In 1977, the artists married, and the following year they left the Netherlands to settle in SoHo, New York. Over the following years, they collaborated, creating impressive large-scale works. Among their works, one can find enormous shuttlecocks, a giant bicycle sunken in the grass, and a massive needle and thread. In total, they completed more than 40 large-scale projects.

Paul Schimmel, who holds the post of chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, shares his memories: "When she entered the circle of practicing artists and began working with Klaes, she already had her own perspective on art. Klaes was playful and easy-going in his approach; his style began with sensual sketches. While she perceived the world more conceptually and systematically. Although Claes already had a significant reputation for his public sculptures before their collaboration, I believe it was her contribution and what she brought to their collaboration that allowed them to realize so many significant public projects over the past two decades. She perfectly complemented Claes's creative nature."

In 1982, van Bruggen was invited to serve on the selection committee for Documenta 7 in Kassel. During this work, she met Frank Gehry, with whom she developed a friendship, and together with Claes Oldenburg, they realized several joint projects. Her creative portfolio also included monographs on Bruce Nauman and John Baldessari. In addition, she actively wrote essays, curated exhibitions, and participated in the publication of books. In 1993, van Bruggen received US citizenship. From 1996 to 1997, she served as a senior critic in the sculpture department at Yale University School of Art. It should not be forgotten that she was also a leading historian of Oldenburg's work, having written five books on his art and collaborative projects between 1979 and 1991.

Klas Oldenburg and the art of everyday life in poetry

Claes Oldenburg (1929–2022) famously wrote, "I support an art that spins and expands, accumulates, spits and drips, and is as heavy, rough, harsh, straightforward, sweet, and silly as life itself." Seeking to imbue his works with this "rough, rough, straightforward, sweet, and silly essence of life," Oldenburg often turned to ordinary objects, altering their size, context, or materials.

He spent his early years in New York and Oslo, where his father served as the Swedish vice-consul. In 1936, the family moved to Chicago, where the elder Oldenburg was appointed consul, and it was here that Claes spent his childhood. Later, the younger Oldenburg attended Yale University, studying literature and art. In 1950, he returned to Chicago, where he began his career as an intern reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. In 1952, he decided to become an artist, and the following year, he became a U.S. citizen.

From 1952 to 1954, Oldenburg studied intermittently at the Art Institute of Chicago, while simultaneously working various temporary jobs. Afterwards, he briefly ran his own studio, creating illustrations for periodicals and participating in a number of local exhibitions.

In 1956, he moved to New York City, where he met a number of artists exploring early forms of performance and happenings, including George Brecht, Allan Kaprow, George Segal, and Robert Whitman. In 1959, he presented a series of sculptures at the Judson Gallery, which included everyday objects made using mixed media such as drawing, collage, and papier-mâché. In late 1961, Oldenburg temporarily converted a storefront on Manhattan's Lower East Side into a cross between studio, gallery, and store, where he sold his works, packaged as everyday products and clothing. This creation was called "The Store."

The artist treated muslin stretched over a wire frame with plaster and then painted the resulting sculptures with bright enamel paint. The resulting works took on almost anthropomorphic features. He explained: "I do not seek to depict bodies directly, but focus on objects associated with them, so that the viewer can experience corporeality—both literally and associatively." In 1962, he was recognized as a Pop Art artist, when the movement was just beginning to emerge.

During this time, he also created "Happenings." Initially, his work consisted of sewing soft canvas sculptures, but he soon switched to using vinyl. This material, which was widely used for upholstery in post-war America, has unique properties: it is neither rigid nor soft. If you fill a vinyl sculpture with soft fibers, it will deform over time under the influence of gravity. As a result of such experiments, he created works such as the Giant BLT (Giant Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich) and the Soft Toilet.

In 1965, Oldenburg began creating images in which everyday objects were presented as enormous sculptures for public space. For example, a huge teddy bear served as a symbol of discontent with carefree tourists on the part of disadvantaged residents of Harlem.

In his other witty illustrations, he proposes replacing the Statue of Liberty with a colossal fan, and the obelisk in Washington with giant scissors.

Initially, these were just ideas, but he always aspired to create large-scale public art. In 1969, he completed his landmark work, "Lipstick (Ascending) on ​​Caterpillar Tracks," which was installed at Yale University. This project was the result of a student initiative, and Oldenburg declined to accept compensation for it. The work reflected the zeitgeist of the late 1960s, including anti-war sentiment and the fight for women's rights (it was in the fall of that year that women were first allowed to enroll at the university).

Oldenburg realized the majority of his large-scale projects in collaboration with Kosje van Bruggen, with whom he worked from 1976 until her death in 2009.

All of Oldenburg's works, from The Store to his grandiose installations, are permeated with one key concept: art should be open to everyone, as well as bring joy and be playful. By increasing the size of objects, we can more clearly perceive their scale, weight, shape, and texture. Ordinary things begin to sound like real poetry. For example:

On the day Willy Fehlbaum celebrated his seventieth birthday, his children gave him a gift in the form of a sculpture called Balancing Tools. This work of art depicts a hammer, pliers, and a screwdriver, directly referencing Willy's craft as a furniture maker and upholsterer, but in a broader context. It was in Claes Oldenburg's studio that Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum first met the renowned architect Frank Gehry, who five years later designed the Vitra Design Museum, located near the Balancing Instruments.

The sculptural fountain, created by Claes Oldenburg and Cossier van Bruggen, is located in the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. The elements of the composition - a spoon and a cherry - are made of aluminum on steel frames and covered with several layers of carefully processed epoxy material. At the bottom of the cherry stem, valves are installed from which water flows, giving the berry a shine, and a thin stream rises from the stem, which Oldenburg described as "not just a trickle of water, but a mist. It should reflect the sunlight and create a rainbow from time to time." In winter, the sculpture is under a layer of snow, which makes it resemble ice cream.

The idea of ​​​​creating a giant spoon belongs to Oldenburg and was implemented back in 1967. In one of his drawings, he drew a parallel between Chicago's Navy Pier and a giant dessert spoon, seemingly submerged in the waters of Lake Michigan. That same year, the artist created a lithograph depicting the spoon as a monumental bridge, beneath which a fleet of sailboats slowly moves. The idea for the spoon-shaped icing on the cake belongs to van Bruggen. She shared her thoughts on how the organized and symmetrical spaces of the gardens reminded her of Versailles and its strict courtly rules. Thus, the cherry spoon becomes not only a playful hint of a comedy of manners, but also a way to create a more relaxed atmosphere.

Four enormous shuttlecocks have been installed in the verdant spaces of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Each one stands 5.8 meters tall and has a diameter of 4.87 meters, weighing 2.5 tons. These gigantic objects are arranged in such a way that the museum resembles a badminton net, while the grass surface becomes a playground. The shuttlecocks, seemingly dropped by accident, are positioned on either side of the museum's "grid" structure. This mysterious installation explores the essence of art: a game with uncertain rules that sometimes appears within the walls of museums.

The architectural complex, known as the "Binocular Building", was created by the architect Frank Gehry in the coastal town of Venice, located in California. This project was realized for the advertising campaign Chiat/Day. During the process, Gehry designed two completely different structures: one is a long, low office building, and the other is a truncated metal structure reminiscent of a tower. However, no connection emerged between the two, and legend has it that Gehry, noticing a nearby model of the Oldenburg Library and Theater, created in 1986, used it as a pair of binoculars. He placed the model among his works to highlight a missing element. This chance discovery turned out to be quite successful: the ironic design perfectly matched the catchy advertising of the early 1990s. In 2011, Google showed interest in the building, also seeing the binoculars as a suitable element for its product concept.

On this website, you can view a timeline that features other significant events. You can also see a broken button, a garden hose, a broken cup with scattered apple slices and peels, a seal, a tie, and many other objects that, despite their ordinariness, have a special charm.

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