Egg Box
Robert Watts
American, 1923–1988
c. 1963
A modest wooden box by Robert Watts, altered with stenciled letters and ink marks and containing four painted plaster half‑eggs, that playfully transforms an everyday container into a small Fluxus artwork questioning what counts as art.
The low rectangular pine box looks like an unassuming parcel until you notice the industrial stencils and loose calligraphic ink scrawls on the lid, a quiet, tactile invitation to lift it and reveal the painted half‑eggs within.
Made in the early 1960s, this work channels Duchampian readymade strategies into Fluxus’s anti‑art humor, helping push sculpture toward everyday materials, dematerialization, and conceptual practices.
Medium
Wood box with ink and stencil additions, containg four painted plaster half-eggs, mounted
Dimensions
overall: 6 7/16 x 2 9/16 x 2 1/16" (16.3 x 6.5 x 5.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift
Accession
3149.2008
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
