Fifty Nine Positions by Erwin Wurm

An artist book by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm.

This work is based on a 20-minute video piece filmed in 1992 in a bare room with a concrete floor, using a fixed camera. The video consists of a sequence of fragmented actions, each lasting only a few seconds. The performers strike absurd poses, their bodies influenced by peculiar choreographies involving motionless "objects" that tremble so slightly they are barely perceptible.

By employing static, looped sequences, Wurm explores the question: “Can a physical action become a sculpture, and if so, at what point does that transformation occur?” Struck by the visual power and immediacy of these strange, anthropomorphic forms captured on film, Wurm later developed the project into a series of colour photographs.

Following "Self Portrait as 47 Pickles", Fifty Nine Positions is the second volume in Erwin Wurm’s artist book series published by RVB Books.

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Title: Fifty Nine Positions
Artist: Erwin Wurm
Publisher: RVB Books, 2023
Format: Hardcover, case binding
Size: 130 × 180 mm
Pages: 120
Edition: First edition
ISBN: 978-2-492175-33-6
Price: ¥5,500