In the Netherlands, over 800 pounds of peanut butter have transformed a museum floor into a colossal tribute to a renowned Dutch conceptual artist. This unusual installation commemorates the passing of Wim T. Schippers, who died last month.
Wim T. Schippers, who passed away on June 10 at 83, first introduced the concept of a “Pindakaasvloer,” or peanut butter floor, back in 1969. His creative and unconventional spirit continues to inspire the art world even after his death.
The latest peanut butter floor, celebrating Schippers’ legacy, premiered Thursday at the Depot branch of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. This exhibit boasts enough creamy spread to make 15,000 sandwiches, underscoring the artist’s enduring impact.
Precision and dedication poured into the installation, as Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen staff spent several days meticulously spreading 40 buckets of peanut butter to an exact thickness of 0.8 inches within a 270-square-foot hexagon.
“It was a lot of work,” admitted Leon Duenk, one of the artisans behind this unique installation, in an interview with the Associated Press. The commitment to detail reflects the team’s respect and admiration for Schippers’ innovative vision.
Schippers, who also voiced Ernie and Kermit the Frog in the Dutch version of “Sesame Street,” created the peanut display as part of a Floor Covering Series, which also included floors covered in glass shards and salt.
“Isn’t it fantastic that we are all standing here looking at peanut butter?” Schippers told reporters at the Central Museum in Utrecht in 1997 during Pindakaasvloer’s second display.
Before his death, the artist and the museum discussed a 20-point plan on how to recreate the nutty exhibit with stipulations that the peanut butter be applied “as smoothly and boringly as possible” and that “no one is supposed to stand in, or lie down on the peanut butter.”
Though Schippers did not specify the size or shape of the work, he preferred smooth peanut butter from the Dutch brand Calvé, which donated 40 tubs for the honorary display.
Multiple visitors stepped on the peanut butter floor when it was on display in 2011.
It was also vandalized in 1997 by a crew of pranksters who placed 12 slices of bread and several bags of hagelslag chocolate sprinkles on the floor.
“It doesn’t look bad,” Schippers told Dutch newspaper Volkskrant at the time. “The sprinkles have been applied with a sense of proportion and a skillful hand.”
The museum — which is now wafting with the nostalgic lunch-box aroma — has a warning at its entrance for visitors with peanut allergies to consider not entering the space.
This year’s Pindakaasvloer will be on display until Sept. 6, according to the museum’s website.
With Post wires