If you go to the latest MoMa exhibition at the Art Gallery of WA you may be perplexed by one of the pieces on display, I was until the Director Dr Stefano Carboni explained it to me.
 |
| The Ponder Room |
At first glance it left me pondering whether some utterly bored primary school student had taken revenge on their art teacher. Losing all hope that he’d ever get back to the footy field, he’d dived into his lunchbox and strung up what he’d found. On closer reflection however, and after a brief chat with Dr Carboni, I found that wasn’t the case at all.
When you look closely you’ll see that the apple and pear are real, and they’re fixed together with screws.
Dr Carboni explained this is one of the most complex pieces in the exhibition. They’d received extremely detailed instructions on how the fruit has to be hung, and what kind of fruit has to be used.
‘If it’s a green apple then the pear has to be red, and vice versa.’ he explained.
I’m almost tempted to go back and see if the items have changed. It could open up a whole lot of problems for the poor gallery tour guides. Imagine giving the tour one day only to find the fruit changed the next. It’d be enough to make you think you’ve been inhaling too many oil vapours from the old Master paintings.
I’l be interested to hear what you see when you go, so please let me know.
