Ketchup, The American Sauce

Paul McCarthy, Ketchup Sandwich, 1970, glass, ketchup, taken in 2010 at the Moderna Museet by Tomislav Medak, image via flickr

Ketchup messes and tantrums always reminded me of Paul McCarthy.

Here is a photo of a 2010 realization of Paul McCarthy’s 1970 sculpture, Ketchup Sandwich, acquired by the Moderna Museet in 2006. According to the accompanying sketches, also acquired, the 30 x 30 x 30 inch cube is comprised of 100 to 120 layers of alternating plate glass and ketchup, plus the empty glass bottles.

If I needed a DC or presidential reference, I’d come back with American Decay, a sculptural installation pre-murder Carl Andre created to protest the re-election of Richard Nixon, which was installed in Max Protech’s DC gallery during the inauguration. American Decay was a maxed out version of Nixon’s favorite salad: a 500 pound, 12 x 18 foot field of cottage cheese, topped with 10 gallons of ketchup, spread out on tar paper so Protech didn’t lose his deposit.

After today tho, I guess that’s all been thrown out the window. So to speak.