CLAES OLDENBURG

Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor, best known for his public art work of everyday objects at a much larger scale. Claes' work interests me because of how large-scaled the projects are and the end results are mind-blowing and it actually seems like you're in a fantasy world when looking at these everyday objects because your used to seeing them at a much smaller scale. 

Claes Oldenburg
Shuttlecocks
1994

The idea of having a shuttlecock on the lawn came from Claes' wife, Coosje. She saw a painting of a Native American wearing a headdress which led to the whole concept of large feathers scattered over the lawn, as they had fell off a passing bird. They were then looking at a map of the site and realised it had a similar layout to that of a tennis court. They then thought that ball sculptures catered along the lawn would be good but then realise fit would be too repetitive. This led to them combining the idea of a feather and ball to create the idea of using shuttlecocks. There are 4 shuttle cocks scattered along the lawns of the site as you have the museum building in the middle which acts as a net and then the lawns on both sides with the shuttlecocks. 
This is a really good piece of work because of the whole idea behind it and that it was so simple. The idea of a tennis court or badminton court but enlarged using buildings and grass is amazing and then to add the shuttlecocks to this which stand out on the lush green grass really well. 

Aluminium and fiber-reinforced plastic; painted with polyurethane enamel

Four shuttlecocks, each 17 ft. 11 in. (5. 5 m) high x 15 ft. 1 in. (4.6 m) crown diameter and 4 ft. (1.2 m) nose cone diameter, sited in different positions on the grounds of the museum.

Claes Oldenburg
Dropped Cone
2001

The idea of using an ice cream cone for the next project came from the fact that most the ice cream parlours in Cologne, Germany have a large plastic ice cream cone in front of them, which are very popular in the area. The subject was irresistible to Claes and Coosje, especially as they found the word 'cone' concealed in the letters of the city's name. 

This piece of work is another piece that interests me because of how it's differentiated from the everything else around it and and the emphasis on the cone separates it from the advertising variations found in the street. 

Stainless and galvanized steels, fiber-reinforced plastic, balsa wood; painted with polyester gelcoat
39 ft. 10 in. (12.1 m) high x 19 ft. (5.8 m) diameter; 
height above building: 32 ft. 10 in. (10 m)

Claes Oldenburg
Spoonbridge and Cherry
1988

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is located in front of the Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis.

In searching for a subject that was horizontal and included fountain elements, so as not to dominate the other sculptures in the garden, he tried a spoon over water, terminating in an island.

The cherry stem was situated in a contrapposto relation to the curve of the spoon and eventually turned into a fountain: while spray from the end of the stem disperses in the air, water issues silently from its base, coating the cherry so that it glistens.

Overall, the piece of work is so eye catching because of the size comparison between the Spoonbridge and Cherry and the buildings, people and trees around the work that looks contrastingly small. 

Stainless steel and aluminum painted with polyurethane enamel
29 ft. 6 in. x 51 ft. 6 in. x 13 ft. 6 in. (9 x 15.7 x 4.1 m)