Erwin Wurm

Book excerpt: Erwin Wurm has worked for over 25 years on a multifaceted oeuvre that can be interpreted as a 'continuous research on the concept of sculpture'. For Wurm, who is now among the most successful contemporary artists, everything can become a sculpture: actions, written or drawn instructions and even thoughts. The artist examines the threshold between the diverse layers of actions, performances and sculpture, and translates into the contemporary media world. He has increasingly made videos in recent years that are being published and analysed for the first time in this book. Wurm became known to a wider audience through his One minute sculptures and his Fat sculptures. 'Humour is a weapon', he once said. Erwin Wurm knows how to make use of it peaceably, but also very pointedly. Published on the occasion of the touring exhibition at Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Munich from September 2009, then on to Kunstmuseum Bonn, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg Vienna. English text.