Autumn Dean/ Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Oldenburg and Bruggen are an interesting couple that collaborates on their work. The over all feeling that most get from viewing the work is that it is playful in the way they are built and the objects that they choose to sculpt.

The scale that they work in is one of the playful elements that is first noticed when you see one of their pieces. To take an object and make it so much larger than life is a fun way to see normal objects. This also in some small way changes the way you see the normal size version of the objects also. This quality is one of the main reasons that their work is so versatile and can so frequently used as public art.

The public pieces that they make through private collectors that donate the work and public organizations that commission these works are sometimes the only art that certain people ever see. So much of their work is publicly placed that it comes with an unspoken responsibility to get a message across to many different types and demographics of people. This art appeals to children through its giant scale and the often bright colors. Another feature that appeals to children  is that you can touch the art and that ends up appealing to us all. Children want to touch everything and will let you know about it, adults do as well they just say it less often. In this way it appeals to us all just on a human level.