Paul Thek, Untitled, 1966
Explore a mysterious object.
Ask students to describe the object they see in the box. What does it look like? Ask students to imagine where it came from and how it ended up in this box.
Let students know that the object inside this Plexiglas box may look like a piece of glistening, raw meat, but the meat is not real! The artist Paul Thek (1933–1988) crafted this “meat piece” using beeswax colored with oil paint. He sculpted the wax, adding materials such as nylon thread for hair and tiny glass beads to achieve a globular texture. Thin layers of DayGlo paint and glossy resin make the meat look juicy.
Paul Thek (1933–1988), Untitled, 1966, from the series Technological Reliquaries. Wax, paint, polyester resin, nylon monofilament, wire, plaster, plywood, melamine laminate, rhodium plated bronze, and Plexiglas, 14 × 15 1/16 × 7 1/2 in. (35.6 × 38.3 × 19.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 93.14 © The Estate of George Paul Thek; courtesy of Alexander and Bonin, New York. Photograph by Geoffrey Clements