''Peanut-Butter Platform'' (, ) is an artwork by Dutch artist

Wim T. Schippers Willem Theodoor "Wim T." Schippers (; born 1 July 1942) is a Dutch artist, comedian, television director, and voice actor. During the 1960s, he worked mostly as a visual artist, associated with the international Fluxus-movement. As a television ...

. It consists of a floor covered with

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

and nothing else.

Background

The idea for ''Peanut-Butter Platform'' evolved from some of Schippers' earlier work. He installed two floor sculptures in a 1962 exhibit at Museum Fodor; he covered the entire floor of one gallery with salt, and another with shards of broken sheet glass. The concept for ''Peanut-Butter Platform'' dates from 1962, a time when he began his association with the

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

movement; during the 1960s, he gained a reputation for absurdist and controversial works of art. He worked on short films as well, with

Wim van der Linden Wim van der Linden (1 January 1941, Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 ...

and others. However, his relations with the established art world were troubled. By the early 1970s, he was working almost exclusively on writing and making television shows for the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

. Schippers referred to television as "the greatest gallery in the world".

Execution

''Peanut-Butter Platform'' was first executed in 1969 in the Mickery gallery in

Loenersloot Loenersloot is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has made part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It lies about 12 km west of Hilversum. It is located o ...

. The work was redone in 1997 in conjunction with a Schippers retrospective at the

Centraal Museum The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht (city), Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wte ...

in Utrecht, and again in a gallery in 2010.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

bought the concept in 2010 and installed it in 2011. Museum director Sjarel Ex stated that it was "one of the most important acquisitions made in 2010". The purchase price was not officially disclosed, but it was reportedly over . The artwork has flexible specifications, and may be installed in various ways. While previous installations were square, the piece constructed in the Rotterdam museum had dimensions of , and consisted of of peanut butter. According to a museum newsletter, "Schippers' works are known for their beauty and their senselessness." At least three visitors accidentally walked onto the floor, and were held responsible for the damage. Schippers fielded more than 500 questions asked via video on the blog ''Pindakaaspost''. On the occasion of Schippers' seventieth birthday, a replica/duplicate of the artwork was installed in the Willy Dobbeplantsoen in

Olst Olst is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel, about north of Deventer. It is located in the municipality of Olst-Wijhe. History The village was first mentioned in 947 Holsto. The etymology is unknown. Olst is an ''esdorp'' which develop ...

References

External links

''De Pindakaasvloer'' van Wim T. Schippers
at

, including video of the making of. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pindakaasvloer Wim T. Schippers Installation art works Olfactory art 1960s sculptures Dutch contemporary art Peanut butter