Erwin Wurm and the Red Hot Chili Peppers

References to Austrian artist Erwin Wurm (b. 1954) keep popping up lately.  There’s an article about his work in the latest Art News magazine and an excerpt in a book I’m reading called The Participatory Museum.  He has a delightful sense of humor and his work reminds me just how fun contemporary art can be and the capacity it has to activate an otherwise staid gallery.  I particularly enjoy his One Minute Sculptures, which consist of a variety of everyday objects on a platform (buckets, broomsticks, fake fruit, plastic bottles, even a refrigerator) along with handwritten instructions from Wurm encouraging visitors to use those materials in whatever madcap way they desire to create silly “one minute sculptures.”  The project clearly charmed the The Red Hot Chili Peppers too as they pay homage to Wurm in their video Can’t Stop.