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Informing Contexts – Instructions for Idleness – Erwin Wurm, 2001

Writer's picture: Jo SutherstJo Sutherst

I have looked at this series by Erwin Wurm whilst looking at artists who use photography as a stage to perform on.  For this series, Wurm performs various acts of idleness, often banal and uninteresting.  He adds text in a patronising way that tells you what is happening in the photograph. He offers no explanation why it is happening. Wurm’s sense of self-importance is evident in the work and I really like the visual way he expresses himself.


Wurm’s performance in front of the camera for this series and for other works, is part of the attraction of the work to me.  We cannot get a true sense of who he is from these photographs.  We just see who he wants us to see; who he was in the split second that the image was captured.  I can use some of his ideas for performance in my own work.


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Figure 1: Wurm, E. Express Yourself Through Yawning. 2001


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Figure 2: Wurm, E. Stay in Your Pyjamas All Day. 2001


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Figure 3: Wurm, E. Be Indifferent of Everything. 2001


REFERENCES

Figure 1: Wurm, E. Express Yourself Through Yawning. 2001.  From Erwinwurm.at. (2017). Erwin Wurm: Artworks. [online] Available at: http://www.erwinwurm.at/artworks/photographic-sculptures.html [Accessed 24 February 2017].


Figure 2: Wurm, E. Stay in Your Pyjamas All Day. 2001.  From Erwinwurm.at. (2017). Erwin Wurm: Artworks. [online] Available at: http://www.erwinwurm.at/artworks/photographic-sculptures.html [Accessed 24 February 2017].


Figure 3: Wurm, E. Be Indifferent of Everything. 2001.  From Erwinwurm.at. (2017). Erwin Wurm: Artworks. [online] Available at: http://www.erwinwurm.at/artworks/photographic-sculptures.html [Accessed 24 February 2017].


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