Peter Fischli and David Weiss
‘Water: A rising tide’
Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s Snowman is designed to never melt. In this industrial freezer, he exists as if on life support, or waiting for the next ice age. Far from his European origins, he is comically out of place in subtropical Brisbane. In danger of crowding out this constrained home, his smile and eyes must be retraced each day.
This is a sculpture, yet these small acts of support bind the snowman to us. We are asked to care for him, be aware of him and ensure that he can ‘see’. As a subtly different is traced everyday on the snowman’s face, his expression fluctuates between frightened, diabolical and disconcertingly sunny.
Snowman reflects our reliance upon industry and technology, as well as our capacity to solve difficult challenges. Just like Snowman, we rely on electrical power. If we can buy flowers and fruit out of season and perhaps use air conditioning all year round, why not visit a snowman in summer?
![Peter Fischli / Switzerland b.1952 / David Weiss / Switzerland 1946–2012 / Snowman 1987/2017–19 A close-up photograph of a frozen snowman installed in a display refrigerator in a gallery space.](/index.php/system/files/styles/wide/private/2023-04/GOMA_Water_installationview_20191216_nharth_013.jpg?itok=5gExDyxv)
Peter Fischli / Switzerland b.1952 / David Weiss / Switzerland 1946–2012 / Snowman (detail) 1987/2017–19 installed at GOMA for ‘Water’, December 2019 / Ice sculpture in refrigerated vitrine / Dimensions vary / Purchased 2019 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: QAGOMA / © Peter Fischli and Estate of David Weiss/Courtesy: Spruth Magers, Berlin / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
![Peter Fischli / Switzerland b.1952 / David Weiss / Switzerland 1946–2012 / Snowman (detail) 1987/2017–19 installed at GOMA for ‘Water’, December 2019 A freezer with a glass front is installed in a gallery space, in front of a glass wall looking over a green park; inside the freezer is a smiling snowman.](/index.php/system/files/styles/wide/private/2024-06/GOMA_Water_installationview_20191211_nharth_004.jpg?itok=ZjFdKv3o)
Peter Fischli / Switzerland b.1952 / David Weiss / Switzerland 1946–2012 / Snowman (detail) 1987/2017–19 installed at GOMA for ‘Water’, December 2019 / Ice sculpture in refrigerated vitrine / Purchased 2019 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: QAGOMA / © Peter Fischli and Estate of David Weiss/Courtesy: Spruth Magers, Berlin / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
![Peter Fischli and Estate of David Weiss/Courtesy: Spruth Magers, Berlin Artwork Snowman this artwork made of Ice sculpture in refrigerated vitrine, created in 1987-01-01](/index.php/system/files/styles/large/private/object-images/2019.159a-o_038_0.jpg?itok=CenOBXxU)
Snowman 1987/2017-19
- FISCHLI, Peter - Artist
- WEISS, David - Artist