Urs Fischer’s Dramatically Melting Sculptures


At last year’s Venice Art Biennale, one of the standout installations involved a full-size wax replica of Giambologna’s 16th-century sculpture The Rape of the Sabine Women. Even more intriguing was that an “everyday” man wearing glasses stood facing the sculpture. Like giant candles, both slowly burned to the ground, melting minute by minute. On Fischer’s website, you can find photos by Stefan Altenburger that show the amazing progression. By capturing this dramatic melting, Fischer makes us think about the inevitable passage of time. Guardian writer Jonathan Jones, who experienced this installation himself, said it best, “Fischer’s candle-man haunted me later when I was walking the decaying streets of Venice. It will haunt me for a long time. It is a beautiful, funny, frightening emblem of time’s fatal arrow.”












Urs Fischer’s website