The Sweet Taste of Absurdity: Wim T. Schippers’ Peanut Butter Floor Revisited

Wim T. Schippers, a Dutch conceptual artist known for his irreverent approach to art-making, has left behind a legacy that is both bewildering and beguiling. His most famous work, the peanut butter floor “Pindakaasvloer,” has been reinstated at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, prompting a revisit of its strange allure.

The Floor Covering Series, which includes “Pindakaasvloer,” was a deliberate provocation – an attempt to redefine what art can be and where it resides. By spreading peanut butter across a 25-square-meter hexagon, Schippers challenged our expectations of both the material and its use in an artistic context. The result is an installation that defies categorization: at once an installation, a performance piece, and an exercise in experiential art.

The revival of “Pindakaasvloer” has been met with a mix of reactions – amusement, curiosity, and perhaps even bewilderment. Those who recall the 1997 exhibition remember the pungent aroma of peanut butter wafting through the museum, transporting visitors to an unexpected realm. As food photographer Mieke Weismann recalled, “The thing I remember is the smell.” This sensory experience speaks to Schippers’ aim of subverting our relationship with art and pushing us towards a more visceral understanding.

The ephemeral nature of conceptual art is also highlighted by the reinstalling of the peanut butter floor. Like its predecessor in 2011, this iteration will not last indefinitely – nor should it. The momentary satisfaction we derive from walking on the sticky surface is fleeting, but what lingers are the questions about the boundaries between art and everyday life.

Schippers’ affinity for absurdity extended beyond “Pindakaasvloer.” His absurdist works challenged traditional notions of art’s purpose and meaning, often blurring the lines between high and low culture. By subjecting us to this sticky experience, Schippers invites us to reconsider the value we assign to the mundane – the everyday objects that line our homes, offices, and streets.

The peanut butter floor is not merely an exercise in novelty; it represents a deeper commentary on our relationship with consumption, materiality, and the way we interact with our environment. As “Pindakaasvloer” reopens at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen for a two-month run, it’s worth considering what this work says about our society. We are living in an era of heightened anxiety, where even the most mundane aspects of life have been politicized or commodified.

In its fleeting presence, “Pindakaasvloer” challenges us to rethink our expectations about what art should be and how it engages with our senses. As we walk on the sticky surface, Schippers’ legacy asks: What does it mean for something to be ‘art’? Can we find meaning in the mundane?