Dutch gallery covers floor in peanut butter to honour late artist Wim T. Schippers

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam is paying tribute to the influential Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers with a unique installation: 800 pounds of peanut butter spread across a gallery floor. Titled "Pindakaasvloer" (Peanut butter floor), the work is a recreation of Schippers' original piece, first exhibited in 1969.

Schippers, who passed away last month at the age of 83, left behind detailed instructions for the artwork. These guidelines specify applying 15.6 kilograms of non-chunky peanut butter per square meter of floor space, spread as "smoothly and monotonously as possible." The instructions also clearly state that the work should not be stood or lied upon and should not be approached "with any educational purpose."

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Peanut butter floor still raises questions like, is this art? Am I allowed to like this? And it is this sense of bewilderment that makes this piece so special. We regard it as a great honor to be able to present this unique artwork in his memory.

Sandra Kisters, the acting director of the museum, noted that the piece continues to provoke questions about the nature of art and personal appreciation. "And it is this sense of bewilderment that makes this piece so special," Kisters said. "We regard it as a great honor to be able to present this unique artwork in his memory."

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They stipulate that curators should apply 15.6kg of non-chunky peanut butter to every square metre of the floor and spread it as “smoothly and monotonously as possible”. The work should not be stood or lied upon and not be approached “with any educational purpose”.

Schippers was known for his dadaist approach, embracing absurdity and challenging conventional notions of art and life. His career spanned various mediums, including performance art, television, and voice acting. He co-founded the A-dynamische groep art collective in the early 1960s, which rebelled against commercialism and seriousness in art. Food was a recurring medium in his work, with past pieces including a chair upholstered with canned noodles and a table covered in peas.

The "Peanut butter floor" installation will be on display until early September, offering visitors a chance to engage with Schippers' distinctive and thought-provoking artistic legacy.

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You could compare his status and influence to Monty Python. He believed that life and art were always entirely serious and entirely non-serious at the same time.