2012.17.a-b, Franz Erhard Walther, Standing Piece in Two sections, 1975

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Exploring spatial, sensorial, and temporal dimensions of form, Franz Erhard Walther is an artist who radically challenged traditional norms of sculpture in the 1960s and early 70s. Standing Piece in Two Sections is considered one of Walther’s “social sculptures,” which aimed to turn passive viewers into active participants. Challenging conventions of the gallery space and the relationship between viewer and art, Walther’s work displaces the artist as the sole producer and creator of the work by engaging the viewer for a participatory experience. The artwork, therefore, is not the sculptural object but rather the interaction between the participant and the instrument. Visitors are encouraged to stand on the work (one individual per space) in order to participate in the completion of the artwork.

Excerpt from

Anna Katherine Brodbeck, ed., TWO X TWO X TWENTY: Two Decades Supporting Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art), 2018, 182.

NOTES

did not get object file, no provenance, no TMS work, HAB

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Tate~Compare to another performative sculpture by Franz Erhard Walther.

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Apply to objects where number equals 2012.17.a-b

General Description

Exploring spatial, sensorial, and temporal dimensions of form, Franz Erhard Walther is an artist who radically challenged traditional norms of sculpture in the 1960s and early 70s. Standing Piece in Two Sections is considered one of Walther’s “social sculptures,” which aimed to turn passive viewers into active participants. Challenging conventions of the gallery space and the relationship between viewer and art, Walther’s work displaces the artist as the sole producer and creator of the work by engaging the viewer for a participatory experience. The artwork, therefore, is not the sculptural object but rather the interaction between the participant and the instrument. Visitors are encouraged to stand on the work (one individual per space) in order to participate in the completion of the artwork.