Works of art and their audiences: Franz West

Marking the beginning of his international success, ‘Test’ was first conceived for an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles with the title ‘Test’, where it offered a powerful space designed to provoke dialogue and exchange. An early review extolled how West ‘purposefully fashioned sofas for a convivial public living room, in which any and all are recognized as members of a communal family.’[1] Both its title and colorful covers, designed by artist Gilbert Bretterbauer and made with fabrics sourced directly in Los Angeles, were altered when the installation was shown at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York a few months later. Installed on the Center’s roof and renamed ‘Test’, the 28 sofas received new black-and-white covers. Dia’s original exhibition brochure noted that ‘the stark dark-light contrast was provoked by the site, by its physical characteristics as well as its cultural ones, and not least its preferred sartorial codes.’[2] At Art Basel Unlimited, ‘Test’—installed once more with new, bold covers by Bretterbauer—provides respite from the sensory overload of Art Basel, a meeting and starting point for debate and transformative encounters.

Rejecting traditional, passive modes of viewing art, West strove instead to devise works that encourage a viewer’s active participation. Summarizing his approach, West stated that ‘[I want] to be able to step into it, to sit on it, lie on it… this is the art of today, lying down on the bed looking up into space. It doesn’t matter what the art looks like but how it’s used.’[3] An invitation to sit back and ‘rest,’ West’s installation encourages audiences to actively contemplate how they experience art. The sensory experiences at the heart of West’s practice recall analogous works produced by a number of postwar artists whose artistic aims all center on altering viewers’ perceptions of their surroundings and themselves. Pipilotti Rist’s video installations frequently include furniture props to encourage her audience to relax and recline while immersing themselves in her hypnotic images and soundscapes. Like West, Rist’s use of furniture, including floor cushions and beds, allows viewers to become part of her work, while raising their awareness of their own bodies in relation to their surroundings. Rist shares West’s irreverent, playful approach to art and similarly pushes her audience to reflect on how they encounter art. Simultaneously object-based and performative, West’s exploration of observation as a multisensory experience also finds parallels in Dieter Roth’s assemblages. Roth’s large-scale installations invite audience participation and draw inspiration from everyday objects and materials. Both Rist and West have acknowledged parallels between their own practice and Roth’s work, with the viewer at the very center of all three practices.[4] Their works can be understood as parallel explorations of the post-war artist’s dilemma of maintaining or disavowing the avant-garde aim to integrate and unify art and everyday life, while challenging traditional understandings and restrictive delineations between media. Speaking of his furniture installations as a place to observe and reflect on art, West suggested works like ‘Test’ offer a revolutionary new experience for his audience: ‘Now you can integrate yourself into the art.’[5] Having created some of the first interactive sculptures of the 20th century, West continues to be recognized and celebrated as one of Europe’s most influential postwar artists. He fundamentally questioned how works of art shape a viewer’s understanding of their environment and themselves, radically transforming and pushing the boundaries of art. – Franz West’s work ‘Test’ is part of Hauser & Wirth’s presentation at Art Basel, from 13 – 16 June 2019.