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Claes Oldenburg's Bottle of Notes
Claes Oldenburg's Bottle of Notes
Elinor Morgan guides us through a famous public sculpture created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in Middlesbrough, UK. This whimsical piece, installed in 1993, stands as a striking example of their playful and thought-provoking art.
The sculpture resembles a giant, partially unrolled bottle with swirling, calligraphic text inscribed along its surface. The text is taken from the notebooks of the explorer Captain James Cook, who was born near Middlesbrough, tying the sculpture to the local history and its maritime heritage. The piece invites viewers to reflect on themes of exploration, creativity, and the interplay between everyday objects and artistic imagination.
Time Period:
20th century
Elinor Morgan, curator and writer, is Artistic Director at MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. With colleagues she has developed MIMA as an institution guided by its context and publics, informed by research as co-editor of The Constituent Museum (Valiz, 2018) on how arts institutions might work differently with their publics.
Morgan shares obscured and overlooked narratives – art historical, social and ecological – and seeks to build ethical mechanisms to grow relationships and nurture equity. She plays a key role in shaping the development of arts and culture in the Tees Valley and is Co-Chair of Disability Arts Online.
Prior to her time at MIMA, Morgan curated international public art projects, residencies, exhibitions, public and learning programmes, working at OUTPOST, Wysing Art Centre, Eastside Projects and on independent projects
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