We asked seven international artists: What is a still life today?

The still life is remarkably vibrant in contemporary art – though the meaning of the genre has changed significantly.

Traditionally, a still life depicts inanimate objects: fruit, flowers, vessels, books, food or precious items. In art history, these objects were often imbued with symbolic meaning. A wilting flower, for example, might symbolise the transience of life.

In contemporary art, however, the focus is often less on depicting beautiful objects. Instead, artists use objects to reflect on consumption, identity, memory, the environment, the body, technology or social conditions. The still life thus becomes a kind of ‘conceptual image of things’.

An important difference from the classical tradition is that the object itself does not necessarily have to be depicted. An artist might, for example, photograph food, arrange it in an installation or use it to build a sculpture.

In doing so, even the most everyday objects can become interesting:
- Plastic packaging and disposable products
- Smartphones and electronic devices
- Fast food and supermarket products
- Clothing and personal belongings
- Flowers, plants and organic materials
- Rubbish and second-hand items
- Artificial or digital objects

Everyday objects are taken out of their familiar context and suddenly become worthy of consideration.

One particularly important area is the examination of consumer society. An arrangement of branded products, for example, can appear both attractive and critical at the same time.

One might ask: Why do we desire certain things? What do our possessions say about us? And what happens to these things when we no longer need them?

In this respect, contemporary art certainly ties in with the traditional still life. There, too, objects spoke of prosperity, social status and lifestyle – only today they might be branded packaging, trainers or electronic devices rather than silver goblets and exotic fruits.

However, transience remains a theme. Nor has the classic ‘vanitas’ motif disappeared by any means. Flowers, fruit, food and other perishable materials continue to be used to reflect on time, ageing, death and change.

However, the meaning can be broader: a wilted plant, for example, can today symbolise not only human death, but also climate change, ecological destruction or the fragility of habitats.

Put simply, one can view the history of still life as a shift:

17th century:
‘These things are transient – think of death.’

19th/20th century:
‘How can I see and depict objects?’

Present day:
‘What do these things reveal about our society and about me?’

This is, of course, a gross oversimplification, but it clearly illustrates the development.

Perhaps this is precisely what makes the still life so relevant today: we live in a world shaped by objects. We buy, collect, photograph, use, dispose of and digitise them. Objects carry memories and emotions, but at the same time they have economic and environmental value.

The contemporary still life brings these seemingly trivial objects to the fore and, in doing so, ultimately asks: what does an object mean to a person – and what does the world of objects say about our times?