Spoerri, a self-proclaimed “paster of found situations,” made this assemblage from his girlfriend Kichka’s leftover breakfast while waiting for some visitors. “I pasted together the morning’s breakfast, which was still there by chance,” he has explained, including dishes, utensils, food, and cigarettes, mounted on a small chair and wood panel. The sculpture is displayed on the wall so it “defies the laws of gravity” and “the view to which we are accustomed,” the artist has said. Spoerri’s reliance on chance and his use of found objects reflects the debt to the Dada movement that he shared with other Nouveau Réaliste artists.
Gallery label from Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen, September 15, 2010–March 14, 2011.