Glass

Maybe you’ve heard of it; the artwork of a banana taped to a wall. Yes correct, a real artwork made of nothing more than a banana and a piece of tape. In 2019 the artwork by famous Italian artist Maurizio Catellan, which was eventually sold for $150 000, caused a big outrage. Is this art? How can something that didn’t cost more than $10 be worth so much money? Everyone can make this right? What happens if the banana turns brown after a week?

Newspapers and magazines were full with opinions about the banana. Many people thought it was a shame, but the banana also had admirers. If something can cause so much discussion, it’s doing something right. And as simple as it is, the ‘sculpture’ is a striking image.

Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan, 2019

Artist Vytautas Kumža also stuck something to a wall. He bought an ordinary wineglass, through which he stuck a coloured shard of glass. He then superglued the whole thing to the wall. Not quite like hanging a painting from a nail.

So this piece of art is not much more than a wineglass and some superglue.

Yet it doesn’t cause for the same amount of controversy as the taped banana. Would it make a difference if the coloured shard wasn’t there? Or if it hadn’t been glued but taped? Or if you knew it was also worth $150 000?

What defines art? A very big question, with no right answer. Maybe that is what makes the banana a good piece of art, it confuses all the art critics.

Vytautas want us to look at the world around us with a fresh perspective. There is often beauty to be found in the most mundane objects or situations. By presenting everyday objects in unusual circumstances, you can appreciate them again as if you see them for the first time.

Many artist have a preferred material. Some only work with steel, ceramics, crayons, wood, plastic and so on. Vytautas likes to make art with glass. He photographs it, he paints it, he uses coloured glass, he makes stained glass and he plays with the glass of a frame.

Scientist thought for a long time that glass remained liquid. That if you waited enough, a glass window would eventually, ever so slowly, drip down. It turned out they were wrong. Yet there is something strange. On a molecular level, glass does seem to be a liquid, while in fact, it isn’t. Scientist haven’t figured out yet why glass is a solid.

Vytautas was born in Lithuania, the most southern country of the three Baltic states. Not a lot of artist come from Lithuania, since it is a very small country. It only has a population of just over 3 million people. Although Lithuania borders Russia, it is a part of the European Union. Which isn’t that strange; if you point out the middle of Europe on a map, you would point to a spot in Lithuania.

After his childhood in Lithuania, Vytautas moved to the Netherlands. He attended the Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam, where he still works and lives. In 2022 he won the NN Art Award, an important award for talented artist that have enjoyed their education at a Dutch art academy.

Did you have a grin on your face when you saw this artwork? Art doesn’t have to be very serious. A glass glued to the wall is a funny image. Funny art is often seen as very nonchalant, while it is very difficult to make someone laugh with art.

The coloured glass casts a very clear shadow on the wall. Artists are often not aware of the shadow that their work create. Do you think the shadow is purposefully part of the artwork?