Untitled
- Artist: Rudolf Stingel
- Date: 1993
- Medium: Carpet
- Dimensions: Overall display dimensions variable
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Untitled” by Rudolf Stingel, created in 1993. It first appeared at the 45th Venice Biennale in the Aperto ’93 section, a forum for emerging artists. The work covers a wall measuring about 5.2 by 9 metres, entirely blanked with a bright orange Savannah‑custom carpet. The carpet is only 1.5 cm thick, but its pile invites viewers to push, mould, and even carve into it, making the piece both tactile and visual.
Stingel’s carpet works form a broader series that interrogates what a painting can be. By turning a mass‑produced floor covering into a wall surface, he turns the ordinary into a three‑dimensional “painting” that challenges traditional boundaries. The artist explains that he hands the act of painting to the public, allowing each visitor to leave a personal, material imprint. In this way the work’s meaning evolves with each interaction, redefining authorship and the very nature of a painting.
See it in person
Untitled is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
