Daniel Spoerri
Courting Couple
Courting Couple
1992
female figure: 196 x 65 x 40 cm, boy: 150 x 60 x 35 cm
bronze
The woman spreads her legs and catches the attention of the boy, who still stands somewhat awkwardly and appears to be the more innocent of the two. The couple has withdrawn. The courtship dance and erotic approaches demand intimacy. This station may be closest to the literary model that Daniel Spoerri uses as the foundation for his Giardino: »The Dream of Polyphilos«, a book ascribed to Francesco Colonna from the fifteenth century, in which the protagonist goes in search of his beloved and, sometimes waking, sometimes dreaming, experiences a series of adventures. The tour through the Giardino leads to encounters with unfamiliar creatures that, thanks to the desires and habits that they express, nevertheless seem familiar.