Watch and Listen

In this seventh annual Annenberg Lecture, Claes Oldenburg speaks about his work in conversation with Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director.

Curator Dana Miller narrates the assembling of Claes Oldenburg’s Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich). Using early installation photographs as a reference, Miller guides art handlers through the placement of each of the “bacon,” “lettuce,” and “tomatoes” of the soft sculpture. This careful process is one of the many ways, the curator explains, in which Oldenburg’s work encourages the viewer to “look at your world with fresh eyes.”

Claes Oldenburg discusses his 12-foot diameter Ice Bag–Scale C, 1971. Characteristic of Oldenburg’s work, the prosaic object is transformed through a dramatic increase of scale. However, it is the addition of movement that produces what Oldenburg describes as the Ice Bag’s “magic effect.”

In this video, Whitney curator Dana Miller, conservator Eleanora Nagy, and artist Claes Oldenburg discuss the conservation process of Oldenburg’s Ice Bag–Scale C, 1971. Also included is commentary by the team of specialists who assisted in the restoration including a hi-fi engineer, an electrician, an auto body restorer, and a custom fabric designer.