Tobias Kaspar - "Lumpy Purple Can"

Tobias Kaspar – «Lumpy Purple Can»

July 3rd – 31st Decem­ber, 2025

How to get there:
Take public trans­port to Glan­zen­berg sta­tion. Cross the Limmat River via the pede­strian bridge and follow the Lim­mat­schan­zen­weg down­stream.

«Lumpy Purple Can» marks the 21st pro­ject of the gro­wing exhi­bi­tion ART FLOW – Art in the Limmat Valley.

At the river­side path in Unterengstrin­gen, inter­na­tio­nally renow­ned artist Tobias Kaspar has instal­led a monu­men­tal sculp­ture. With a touch of pop-cul­tu­ral wit, «Lumpy Purple Can» addres­ses timely themes such as con­su­me­rism, cir­cu­lar eco­nomy, fashion, and recy­cling.

It playfully high­lights the com­plex pro­ces­ses of reva­lua­tion and trans­for­ma­tion of goods — gently remin­ding us of the intrin­sic value of our own waste.

For ART FLOW, Kaspar has turned his atten­tion to a topic that is ever-pre­sent in the Limmat Valley: the crea­tion and recy­cling of waste. Rising from the lush gree­n­ery of a river­side zone in Unterengstrin­gen – directly oppo­site Die­ti­kon sta­tion – an over­si­zed alu­mi­nium drink can towers into view, clad in a fashionable camou­flage pat­tern. Lumpy Purple Can stands as a monu­ment to the thro­wa­way society – an alien object in nature that playfully piques curio­sity and reminds passers-by and train tra­vel­lers alike of the value of their own waste, pre­cis­ely where it is gene­ra­ted – and most dis­rup­tive.

Tobias Kaspar (CH 1984) explo­res the mecha­nisms that shape value crea­tion and taste in today’s con­su­mer society. In recent years, he has become known not only for his rese­arch into the trade routes of aes­the­tic eco­no­mies, but also through the deve­lo­p­ment of his own mer­chan­dise – inclu­ding a maga­zine and a jeans line. His work has been widely reco­g­nised, with exhi­bi­ti­ons at venues such as the Kunst­halle Bern, the MadeIn Museum Shang­hai, and the Musée d’Art Moderne et Con­tem­po­rain (MAMCO) Geneva.