Rotterdam's Museum Boijmans van Beuningen has paid tribute to the late artist Wim T Schippers by installing 800lb of peanut butter across a gallery floor, recreating his 1962 conceptual work Pindakaasvloer (Peanut Butter Floor). The installation follows detailed instructions left by Schippers, who died last month at age 83.
Artist's Instructions and Installation Details
The hexagonal floor installation, first exhibited in 1969, requires curators to apply 15.6kg of non-chunky peanut butter per square metre, spread 'smoothly and monotonously as possible'. Schippers stipulated that the work should not be stood or lied upon, and should not be approached 'with any educational purpose'.
'Peanut butter floor still raises questions like, is this art? Am I allowed to like this?' said Sandra Kisters, acting director of the museum. 'And it is this sense of bewilderment that makes this piece so special. We regard it as a great honour to be able to present this unique artwork in his memory.'
Schippers' Legacy and Influence
Born Willem Theodoor Schippers in Groningen, he was a unique figure in Dutch cultural life, known for his dadaist mischief and love of the absurd. In the early 1960s, he co-founded the A-dynamische groep art collective, which protested commercialisation and boredom in art with stunts like shaving cactuses and filling galleries with shards of glass or salt.
Food was a recurring medium: besides peanut butter floors, he upholstered a chair with canned noodles and covered a table in peas. From the late 1960s, he moved into television, creating the music show Hoepla, which featured the first completely naked woman on live Dutch TV, leading to its cancellation. He later created the cult comedy character Sjef van Oekel, a Belgian frites salesman in a tuxedo played by Dolf Brouwers.
To many Dutch people, Schippers is best known as the voice of Ernie, Kermit the Frog, and Count von Count on the Dutch version of Sesame Street. Kisters compared his status and influence to Monty Python, noting, 'He believed that life and art were always entirely serious and entirely non-serious at the same time.'
Other Notable Works and Final Artwork
Schippers continued making conceptual art until his death. His 1999 work Het Is Me Wat (That Is Quite Something) made a large stone float above a pedestal using large electromagnets. Hilversum's Media Park showcases his 4-metre-high sculpture of a pile of excrement, Stationnement Gênant (Unauthorised Parking), unveiled in 2011.
In April 2024, he told Dutch media he was working on his last artwork, titled Wim is Gone. 'I keep putting it off, because then I think I'm going to die,' he said.
History of the Peanut Butter Floor
The peanut butter floor has been installed numerous times in Dutch museums. When shown at Utrecht's Centraal Museum in 1997, schoolchildren vandalised it with chocolate sprinkles and slices of bread, recreating a popular Dutch snack. Schippers was reportedly not dissatisfied with the result.
During its last installation at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in 2011, an inattentive visitor slipped and damaged the work. Visitors submitted 648 questions about the piece, each of which Schippers answered in writing.
Exhibition Details and Visitor Experience
Schippers' work will be shown until 6 September. The museum restaurant will offer a peanut butter sandwich during that time, with optional cheese and spicy sambal relish. Kisters said the museum shop will also sell smooth peanut butter, so visitors 'can make their own art at home'.
