An artwork consisting of 390 kilograms of peanut butter spread across the floor drew 48,000 visitors, and suffered 48 accidental footprints as well as a “licking incident”, the Rotterdam museum that hosted it said on Tuesday.
This unconventional piece, a tribute to the late artist Wim T. Schippers who died this year, was displayed for two months at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in the Dutch port city. The peanut butter had been spread over a 25-square-meter hexagonal floor “as evenly as possible, with no lumps,” according to the artist’s instructions.
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A Hungry Child Responsible for a Licking Incident
“Forty-eight visitors took a fateful misstep on the floor”, the museum said in a statement detailing the exhibition, while “five phones were retrieved”. The statement also mentions a “licking incident”, with the culprit being a young child, the museum’s spokesperson confirmed to AFP.
The Peanut Butter, Now Destined for Compost
Now that the exhibition has ended, what should be done with the hundreds of kilograms of peanut butter that were used?
“We have explored the possibility of reusing the peanut butter, for instance in zoos, animal shelters, or sustainable initiatives”, the museum spokesperson, René Timmermans, told AFP. “However, after having been part of the homage installation… for eight weeks, we could no longer guarantee its quality, hygiene or food safety”, added Mr. Timmermans.
The peanut butter is therefore headed for compost, he clarified.
