Thomas Hirschhorn

Jumbo Spoons and Big Cake is a monumental installation that would resemble a topsy-turvy reference centre except for the presence of a gigantic cake and with 12 spoons at its core. Modeled after souvenir spoons, they are emblematic of individuals or entities the artist associates with failed utopias: Mies van der Rohe, Rosa Luxemburg, Malevich, Nietzsche, Venice, China, the exhibition of “degenerate” art held by the Nazis in 1937 and the Chicago Bulls basketball team. In this installation, the artist offers a space for reflection on the an overabundance of information juxtaposed with the urgent question of global hunger. Jumbo Spoons and Big Cake, a recent acquisition of the Musée d’art contemporain, was shown at the Chicago Art Institute and at the Musée national d’art moderne/Centre Pompidou.