Who? Claes Oldenburg, Swedish/American (1929-Present) What? Floor Burger (Canvas filled with foam rubber and cardboard boxes, painted with acrylic paint) When? 1962 Where is it now? The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Why is this artist/artwork important? Claes Oldenburg was one of the originators of an American art movement known as Pop Art. Oldenburg took items from popular and commercial culture, such as a hamburger with a slice of pickle on top, and made gigantic sculptures out of them.              

 Claes  Oldenburg  Information  Sheet    Claes  Oldenburg  was  born  in  1929  in  Stockholm,  Sweden.  His  father  was  a  diplomat,  so  his  family  moved  around  a  lot.  When  he  was  7  years  old,  they  settled  down  in  Chicago,  where  Oldenburg  grew  up.    He  studied  art  at  Yale  University  and  then  returned  to  Chicago  to  work  as  a  reporter.    In  1956,  Oldenburg  moved  to  New  York  City  and  became  friends  with  lots  of  artists.  It  was  a  wild  and  wacky  time  in  the  New  York  art  world.  Artists  were  experimenting  with  breaking  all  the  rules.  They  were  tired  of  all  the  serious  art  that  was  being  made  at  the  time.       -­‐-­‐The  art  at  the  time  was  abstract,  with  no  figures.  Just  colors  and  shapes.  But   it  was  big  and  had  serious  titles.     -­‐-­‐Example:  Barnet  Newman,  Concord  (1949)    -­‐-­‐Artists  who  rebelled  against  this  wanted  to  make  art  that  everyone  could  understand.  They  wanted  to  make  Popular  Art.  The  subjects  were  things  that  everyone  could  recognize.  The  art  was  known  as  Pop  Art.  

-­‐-­‐Oldenburg  was  totally  into  this.  In  the  early  1960s  he  rented  a  store  and  filled  it  with  fake  food  and  other  things  he  had  sculpted.  He  called  his  work  “The  Store”  and  sold  some  of  the  objects  that  he  had  made.    

 Question:  Was  this  art  or  did  Oldenburg  just  open  shop?    -­‐-­‐The  objects  weren’t  real—food  wasn’t  edible,  so  was  it  art?  Making  fun  of  art?    

-­‐-­‐In  1962,  Oldenburg  expanded  upon  these  ideas  and  began  making  gigantic  soft  sculptures  of  everyday  objects,  using  fabric  or  vinyl,  which  he  stuffed.  Here’s  where  it  all  gets  really  funny.    -­‐-­‐Small  things  become  huge:  Floor  Burger  (7  ft.  wide),  Floor  Cake  (9  ft.  long),  Floor  Cone  (11  ft.  long).    -­‐-­‐Oldenburg  was  not  into  fancy,  complicated  art  theories.  He  once  said,  “I’m  for  the  art  of  ice  cream  cones  dropped  on  concrete.”    -­‐-­‐Giant  BLT—has  to  be  put  together  every  time  it  is  shown  at  a  museum.    (-­‐-­‐There  is  a  great  Whitney  Museum  Video  on  the  web  showing  Curators  trying  to  make  his  BLT-­‐-­‐2  minutes  long).  

  -­‐-­‐He  also  made  hard  things  soft—Light  Switch    

-­‐-­‐In  1969,  Oldenberg  began  making  giant  sculptures  that  could  go  outside.    (Badminton  Birdy,  Giant  Eraser)  

 In  1976  he  got  married  and  he  and  his  wife  worked  together  making  huge  sculptures.  He  is  still  alive  and  actively  working.        

 Books:    Joyce  Raimondo,  Make  it  Pop!  Activities  and  Adventures  in  Pop  Art.  Watson-­‐Guptill,  2006.    Internet  Sites:    BLT  Making  Video  from  the  Whitney  Museum:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2qxhWmdIrs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claes_Oldenburg www.guggenheim.org/new.../689 Claes  Oldenburg  Images  

 Claes  Oldenburg  posing  in  “The  Store,”  1961      

 Claes  Oldenburg,  Food  from  “The  Store,”    

 Claes  Oldenburg,  Floor  Burger,  1962      

 Claes  Oldenburg,  Floor  Cake,  1962    

 Claes  Oldenburg,  Giant  BLT,  1963    

   

 Oldenburg  with  Floor  Cone    

 Oldenburg,  Light  Switches,  1964    

 Oldenburg,  Badminton  Birdy,  1994    

 Oldenburg,  Typewriter  Eraser,  1999    

 Barnet  Newman,  Concord,  1949  (Abstract  Expressionism—example  for  comparison)  

Claes  Oldenburg  Art  Project    Project  1:  Make  your  own  Pop  Art  sculpture    Materials:  Colored  Construction  Paper  Markers  Scissors  Glue  Staplers  or  tape  Newspaper  or  other  scrap  paper  to  be  used  for  stuffing  Optional:  felt  and  other  decorative  trimmings    1. Have  the  students  choose  and  everyday  object  or  food  for  their  project.  Examples  might  be:  a  favorite  food,  a  cell  phone,  an  eraser,  a  shoe.    

2. Cut  a  large  shape  for  the  object  out  of  two  pieces  of  construction  paper.    

 3. Decorate  the  objects:  For  example,  if  they  are  making  pizza  slices,  they  could  cut  and  glue  paper  on  to  make  toppings.  They  can  decorate  with  marker  or  anything  else  that  they  want.  

4. Prepare  the  objects  for  stuffing:  tape  or  staple  the  two  pieces  of  construction  paper  together  along  the  edges,  leaving  enough  of  an  opening  to  stuff  the  piece  with  bunched  up  newspaper,  scrap  paper  or  tissue.  

5. After  stuffing,  close  up  the  opening  with  staples  or  tape.    6. Add  finishing  touches  and  details  if  desired.