Den svensk-amerikanske popkunstner Claes Oldenburg er kendt for sine bløde skulpturer forestillende velkendte hverdagsgenstande. I 1956 flyttede han til New York, hvor han blev fascineret af det han så på sin færden rundt i byens gader: butiksvinduer, graffiti, reklamer og affald. Claes Oldenburg fik øje for disse objekters skulpturelle kvaliteter, hvilket igangsatte hans interesse for at arbejde med skulptur. I årene 1960-61 skabte han værket The Store, der bestod af et butikslokale, som kunstneren havde lejet og fyldt med bemalede gipskopier af mad, tøj, smykker og en lang række andre genstande, som var det varer i butikken. Igen i 1962 udstillede han en version af sin ’butik’, nu med enorme lærredsbelagte skumgummiskulpturer forestillende en isvaffel, en hamburger og et stykke kage, hvilket ledte til det udtryk Claes Oldenburg i dag er berømt for. Ligesom Andy Warhol og andre popkunstnere finder Oldenburg sit materiale i almindelige produkter fra forbrugerlivet, der ofte har tætte menneskelige forbindelser, som i dette værk; et cigaretskod, der som et stykke affald på ironiserende vis danner udgangspunkt for et kunstnerisk studie.
The Swedish-American Pop artist is famous for his soft sculptures depicting familiar everyday objects. In 1956, he moved to New York, where he became fascinated by what he saw as he walked the city’s streets: shop windows, graffiti, advertisements and garbage. Claes Oldenburg’s perception of the sculptural qualities of these objects kindled his interest in sculpture. Between 1960 and 1961, he created The Store. It featured a shop premises, which the artist had rented and filled with painted plaster copies of food, clothes, jewellery and a large range of other items, as if they were items for sale in the shop. In 1962, he exhibited another version of his ‘store’. This one featured huge, canvas-coated, foam-rubber sculptures of an ice cream cone, a hamburger and a slice of cake, which led to the expression for which Claes Oldenburg is famous today. Like Andy Warhol and other Pop artists, Oldenburg found his material in ordinary consumer products, which often have close human associations. This work is a good example. A cigarette butt, a piece of rubbish, forms the ironic basis for a work of art.