past artists looking at everyday objects (Daniel Spoerri)

Past artists looking at everyday objects

Daniel Spoerri

Former dancer, Daniel Spoerri made his name in art in the 60’s with his famous ‘snare pictures’ which allowed him to become a visual artist. He said “objects, which are found in randomly orderly or disorderly situations, are mounted on whatever they are found on (table, box, drawer, etc.) in the exact constellation they are found in(...). By declaring the result to be a tableau, the horizontal becomes vertical. For example: the leftovers of a meal are mounted on the table and the table is then hung on a wall (...)”.

 He used other everyday objects in his 1963 work Restaurant de la Galerie J, where he mounted kitchen utensils onto 10 dining tables. This took place in Galerie J, Paris.

In 1967, Spoerri created ‘Eat Art’ as he believed that food was an art in itself. His aim was to explore the basis of the human diet and what is actually eatable. He asked these questions; Which plants, grains, cereals are the basis of human diet? Which forms of preparation are known worldwide? How many different versions are there of basic recipes?