Bottle of Notes: Claes Oldenburg/Coosje van Bruggen

by Richard Cork

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's monumental sculpture Bottle of Notes, which soars nearly thirty-five feet above the city of Middlesbrough, tilted at an angle almost as startling as the Tower of Pisa, is the first public sculpture in the United Kingdom by these two internationally renowned artists.This book, which contains over sixty colour illustrations of Oldenburg and van Bruggen’s preparatory sketches and models, and photographs of the finished sculpture in situ, examines the sculpture, Bottle of Notes, from its conception to its final installation some seven years later. The text explores the inspiration behind the Bottle of Notes, and looks at the precedents to the Bottle in Oldenburg’s work, in particular his large-scale sculptures. The final part of the book documents the making of the sculpture.

72 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1997