Positions

Positions

Franz Erhard Walther
German, born 1939
1969
A plain wooden case filled with folded, strapped canvas cushions and sewn fabric pieces that the artist meant people to unpack, wear, or arrange—turning cloth into a participatory, body‑activated sculpture.
It reads like an orderly storage unit of off‑white mattresses and rolled canvases—domestic, workmanlike cloth bound with straps inside a pine frame—so that the silence of storage hints at imminent movement and touch.
Walther's work recasts sculpture as instructions for bodily action, helping pioneer participatory and performance‑based art that centers the viewer’s physical engagement rather than a static object.
Medium
Fabric
Dimensions
25 9/16 x 3 15/16 x 25 3/16" (65 x 10 x 64 cm)
Classification
Credit
Scott Burton Fund
Accession
1060.2010.54
Palette
Exhibitions
View on moma.org

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Very Similar

> 65%
Body 89%

Body

Franz Erhard Walther

1967

Body 89% Franz Erhard Walther 1967 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 95 11/16 x 44 1/8" (243 x 1... German 1060.2010.29
Centered 88%

Centered

Franz Erhard Walther

1967

Centered 88% Franz Erhard Walther 1967 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 48 3/8 x 48" (122.8 x 121.9... German 1060.2010.23
10 x Place    Distance    Place 88%

10 x Place Distance Place

Franz Erhard Walther

1969

10 x Place Distance Place 88% Franz Erhard Walther 1969 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture Dimensions variable Compon... German 1060.2010.57
Time    Place    Duration    Direction    Relation 87%

Time Place Duration Direction Relation

Franz Erhard Walther

1969

Time Place Duration Direction Relation 87% Franz Erhard Walther 1969 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture Component: 86 5/8 x 60 5/8"... German 1060.2010.58
Gathering 87%

Gathering

Franz Erhard Walther

1966

Gathering 87% Franz Erhard Walther 1966 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 157 3/16 x 157 3/16" (399.3... German 1060.2010.20
Untitled 87%

Untitled

Franz Erhard Walther

1963

Untitled 87% Franz Erhard Walther 1963 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 41 5/16 x 8 1/4" (105 x 21 cm) German 1060.2010.1
Strike 87%

Strike

Franz Erhard Walther

1967

Strike 87% Franz Erhard Walther 1967 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 336 5/8 x 31 1/2" (855 x 80... German 1060.2010.41
Place    Time    Inside    Outside 86%

Place Time Inside Outside

Franz Erhard Walther

1967

Place Time Inside Outside 86% Franz Erhard Walther 1967 Fabric Sculpture Painting & Sculpture 7 1/2 x 42 15/16" (19 x 109... German 1060.2010.37