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Dieter Roth P.O.TH.A.A.VFB (Portrait of the Artist as a Vogelfutterbüste [Birdseed Bust]) 1968

  • Not on view

This is the most significant of the group of chocolate multiples Roth made in the late 1960s. The title is a reference to the 1916 novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce, but the work is a portrait of Roth as an old man, cast in a mixture of chocolate and birdseed. It is intended to be mounted on a post in the open air and consumed by birds until nothing remains. Unlike a traditional marble portrait bust, meant to endure through the ages, this work is a testament to Roth’s belief in impermanence and the inevitability of aging and bodily decay.

Gallery label from Wait, Later This Will Be Nothing: Editions by Dieter Roth, February 17–June 24, 2013.
Medium
Multiple of chocolate and birdseed
Dimensions
overall: 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 4 3/4" (21 x 14 x 12 cm)
Publisher
Harke Verlag, Cologne
Fabricator
Rudolf Rieser, Cologne
Edition
30
Credit
Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Endowment Fund and acquired through the generosity of Peter H. Friedland
Object number
1667.2012
Copyright
© 2024 Estate of Dieter Roth
Department
Drawings and Prints

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