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| Untitled (Portrait of Ross) - Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1991) |
What could be more festive than a mountain of candy colored? Yet even they can become synonymous with insecurity, deterioration, death. It is a portrait (obviously allegorical) of Ross Laycock, a companion of Felix Gonzalez-Torres died in 1991 due to AIDS. The artist lets the audience interact with the operator taking the candy and bring with them. In this way, as if torn off parts of Ross, which is subject to a slow decline. Even the amount is random: the weight of the candy is equal to the weight of the ideal mate, is decreasing day by day as that pile. Gonzalez-Torres, however, established that at the end of each day's visit will add back in place of other sweets are missing, such as to ensure a kind of eternity.
This type of work leads to a fundamental innovation: the museum / art gallery is no longer a simple container, but a place where the work can be realized and come to life through interaction.