In a truly extraordinary tribute to the late Dutch conceptual artist Wim T. Schippers, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam has once again brought to life his iconic artwork: the Peanut Butter Floor. This installation, a mesmerizing expanse of smooth, creamy spread, challenges traditional notions of art and serves as a poignant homage to a figure renowned for his playful embrace of the absurd.
Recreating the Legendary Peanut Butter Floor
Staff at the renowned visual arts museum meticulously covered a 25-square-metre section of a gallery floor with a staggering 800 pounds of peanut butter. Following precise instructions left by Schippers, who passed away last month at 83, the museum enlisted specialized ‘peanut butter plasterers’ – individuals who had previously executed the artwork with remarkable precision in 2011. Over two days, July 2 and 3, these dedicated artisans, armed with buckets and plastering tools, carefully recreated the distinctive hexagonal shape. Schippers, a man of meticulous detail, even specified the brand: Calvé, chosen for its agreeable spreadability, though the exact shape was always left open to interpretation.
The “Peanut Butter Floor” is not merely a novelty; it’s a profound conceptual piece. First conceived in the 1960s, it belongs to a series of floor installations that also included shards of glass and salt, each designed to provoke thought and conversation. The work deliberately asks viewers to ponder, “Is this art?” and “Am I allowed to find this beautiful?” Schippers firmly believed that art need not be logical or useful. Indeed, he championed the idea that art, much like life itself, could be wonderfully nonsensical, and precisely for that reason, incredibly worthwhile.
Throughout its history, the Peanut Butter Floor has drawn considerable attention, occasionally even inviting impromptu visitor interactions. In 1997, a version displayed at Utrecht’s Centraal Museum was famously “vandalized” by schoolchildren who adorned it with chocolate sprinkles and slices of bread – an act Schippers, surprisingly, reportedly approved of. More recently, in 2011, a visitor at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen slipped while traversing the oily surface, underscoring the installation’s visceral, perhaps even perilous, engagement with its audience, as reported by The Guardian.
Beyond his unconventional floor installations, Schippers’ diverse career spanned media. His artistic portfolio included a chair upholstered with canned noodles and a table laden with peas. In 2011, he unveiled “Unauthorized Parking,” a colossal four-metre-high structure resembling a giant pile of excrement. A television writer and comedian, he was also the beloved Dutch voice of iconic “Sesame Street” characters like Ernie, Kermit the Frog, and Count von Count, demonstrating a truly unique blend of highbrow conceptualism and popular culture engagement. The recreation of the Peanut Butter Floor stands as a powerful testament to his enduring legacy, a tribute fitting for an artist who consistently challenged perceptions and dared to make us think, and perhaps, even smile.
About the Author
