Bizarre

Hoovers Can Be Art – A Post For Perfect Housewives

Magda Michalska 3 October 2016 min Read

Do you like cleaning? I do, though I’m still far from being a Perfect Housewife. But I really like hoovering (especially with Henry). And the American artist Jeff Koons seems to be a fan of hoovers, too.

Jeff Koons, New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Red, Brown, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Displaced Doubledecker, 1981–7, Tate
Jeff Koons, New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Red, Brown, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Displaced Doubledecker, 1981–7, Tate

Yes, this is real, hoovers in the museum. But as soon as they enter the museum space, they cease to be only hoovers. They become sculptures, highly conceptual, and this is how we should view them. Koons began exhibiting hoovers in 1980 and spent next seven years working on different configurations and models.

Jeff Koons, New Hoover Quik Broom, New Hoover Celebrity IV, 1980
Jeff Koons, New Hoover Quik Broom, New Hoover Celebrity IV, 1980

Koons is famous for his fascination with mundane objects and what they represent for our contemporary society. With this project, referred to as “The New”, he explored how we project our dreams, unfulfilled desires and fantasies, for example about being a Perfect Housewife, onto ordinary items. Moreover, he inspires reflections about how we worship objects nowadays and cannot get by without them.

Jeff Koons, New Hoover Deluxe Shampoo Polishers, 1981-86
Jeff Koons, New Hoover Deluxe Shampoo Polishers, 1981-86

Some may say that a hoover behind glass is not art. And they may be right if they think of art as a rigid and unchanging entity.
But what makes such projects art, is their message, because conceptual art is not about the object and the mastery of the artist. It’s about the ideals that the artist wants to convey via the object which serves only as a vehicle.

Ok, no more preaching, I’d better go to clean something.

Find out more:

[easyazon_image align=”none” height=”160″ identifier=”0300195877″ locale=”US” src=”https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/61R3EAl5pGL.SL160.jpg” tag=”dailyartdaily-20″ width=”124″]   [easyazon_image align=”none” height=”160″ identifier=”1906967768″ locale=”US” src=”https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/51WWOoyiOPL.SL160.jpg” tag=”dailyartdaily-20″ width=”118″]   [easyazon_image align=”none” height=”160″ identifier=”0500093822″ locale=”US” src=”https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/51SxabC4uL.SL160.jpg” tag=”dailyartdaily-20″ width=”114″]

Get your daily dose of art

Click and follow us on Google News to stay updated all the time

Recommended

Bizarre

Goya’s 5 Scariest Caprichos for Halloween

Los Caprichos are some of the most disturbing of Francisco Goya’s works. A sharp critique of society and its values, there are plenty of monsters...

Edoardo Cesarino 31 October 2024

A captivating painting illustrating a spider web alongside a spider woman with other creatures, symbolizing connection and fragility. Bizarre

Spooky Strokes: 10 Paintings for a Haunting Halloween

As autumn’s chill arrives, let’s explore some eerie and supernatural art for Halloween. We’ll showcase 10 artworks (paintings and...

Lisa Scalone 28 October 2024

Paintings of Satan. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Ghosts, Devils, and The King of Hell, 1850. Woodblock print. The British Museum, London, UK. Bizarre

5 Paintings of Satan You Haven’t Seen Before

Paintings of Satan are a recurrent theme in art, ranging from religious portrayals to contemporary interpretations. As the symbolic representation of...

Errika Gerakiti 9 March 2024

Bizarre

Chilling Beauty: Exploring Europe’s Bone Churches

From the ancient period through the 18th century, European Catholics and Orthodox Christians displayed and maintained bones of the deceased to honor...

Julia Bourbois 28 March 2024