“Typewriter Eraser, Scale X” by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen (1999).
I was watching a documentary last week on modern art and at one point the discussion turned to pop art and the sculpture of Claes Oldenburg. I was familiar with a few of Oldenburg’s works, but I hadn’t seen the one they splashed on the screen: Typewriter Eraser, Scale X.
What really took me aback though was that without the title I wouldn’t have even known what this was a (giant-sized) sculpture of. Something about it triggered a very vague memory. I’m sure I’d seen erasers like this somewhere before, but I couldn’t tell you where or when. And I learned to type on a classic Underwood that was as heavy as an engine block, complete with a long silver arm that you swatted back for carriage return. But I never used a typewriter eraser. I think there are few people alive who have, and fewer every day. And yet this was a 1999 sculpture (albeit one Oldenburg had apparently been thinking about doing since the 1960s).
The reason this struck me as meaningful is that Oldenburg’s sculpture, like a lot of pop art, was based on representations of instantly recognizable, everyday objects. He made giant clothespins and giant cheeseburgers. So what happens to pop art when the objects it represents have become so alien? I mean, a giant typewriter eraser might even be an alien, with the spindly brush a shock of blue hair coming out of a round pink cyclopean head. Less imaginatively, it’s a wheeled pizza cutter with a handle that’s come apart.
It seems like an interesting question for art appreciation. If the point is to have you recognize an object that is immediately identifiable even when it’s presented on a different scale and in a different setting, but you don’t know what the object is supposed to be in the first place, then the whole effect of the piece has changed. It hasn’t been lost, mind you. Just changed. I think there’s an analogy that can be made to how we respond to current events when we’ve lost so much historical understanding and perspective. Events lose their meaning, or their meaning changes, when they no longer have any generally understood context. The giant eraser becomes a metaphor.
Alex Good 
Well I’m old but have never seen a real one of these so would have been perplexed coming across this as a giant sculpture. I used tippex.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was such a weird experience seeing the sculpture. I recognized it as something I’d seen before, but couldn’t place it or remember what it was. Then the title of the sculpture didn’t actually help because I’d never used one or seen one used. I must have just come across one lying around on a desk or in a drawer somewhere. Such things existed once! But I imagine they must be long gone now. Can’t believe anyone still makes them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Most artists are just lazy gits who need to get a real job 😉
No tips for them!
And I didn’t even know you “could” erase on a typewriter. My, how times have changed…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think these erasers actually worked. They just looked like they might so they gave the illusion of being of some use. This one looks like it could erase a house.
LikeLiked by 2 people
On a side note, how’s the new phone working out for you? Is it worth it?
LikeLike
Not worth it at all. I only got it because I had to have it because of ongoing family emergencies. But it is a neat device that I marvel at every day.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry to hear that. Sadly, now that you have it I doubt you’ll ever be able to get free.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is what I’ve been told. So far my stats say I’ve only been using it less than 30 minutes a day. I’ll see how long I can stick with that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The longer the better!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What has this got to do with the children’s literature of Diana Wynn’s Jones?
Love typewriters, can’t bear to throw them out, first experience of hunt and peck. Never used an eraser, wouldn’t know what this was, but wasn’t that the point?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nah, I think his point was it was something everyone would know, and they’d just be surprised at an everyday object so blown out of scale. But that won’t work anymore since I don’t think anyone recognizes it.
I wish I’d kept that old typewriter I learned to type on. For sentimental reasons.
Too many killer commenting crossovers for me to keep track of. Something about Booky building a giant statue of Zeus . . .
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is all Aonghus’s fault!
LikeLike
He made the giant statue of Zeus!
LikeLiked by 1 person
If only he had a website so we could descend upon him like a horde of Assyria and crush his every dream and aspirations!
LikeLike