Cat Litter

by Robert Gober

Artist Robert Gober (USA, född 1954)

Alternate Title

Kattsand

Date1989

MediumPlaster, ink, paint

Dimensions42,5 × 20,3 × 12,5 cm

ClassificationSculptures

Credit LineDonation 2018 from The American Friends of the Moderna Museet Inc.

Countries

United States

Object NumberMOM/2018/30

CollectionsThe American Friends of the Moderna Museet inc. Collection

The artwork is not on display

About the artworkRobert Gober gives a singular psychological charge to seemingly everyday objects. Unlike Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades, however, this bag of cat litter is not a found object but a meticulously hand-painted sculpture. With slight distortions, he makes the familiar unfamiliar. His sculptures often arise from the processing of repressed memories, resulting in emblems for a kind of transitional phase associated with the body and hygiene. Cat litter is used by people with cats, who want to take command of their domestic pet’s fundamental needs. We potty-train our infants and teach the cat to use a litter tray. Cat litter becomes a strategy for purifying the unclean, an expression of our need for control.
Signatures, inscriptions and marks R. Gober '89 #6(oläsbart)7 Selected exhibition history Samlingsutställning 2019-2022 (den 1 februari 2019 - den 27 augusti 2023) Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Works by the artist