'Gurken'

Among the university buildings of Furtwänglerpark in the Old City of Salzburg, Austria, modern public art installations add an air of whimsy to the otherwise historic, quiet setting. As if they could stand, a row of giant gherkins loiter on the sidewalk near the edge of a lawn.

These five, human-sized pickles, erected among prime examples of traditional medieval and baroque buildings, are a part of the Salzburg Walk of Modern Art. Austrian artist Erwin Wurm created the installation known as “Gurken” (or “gherkins”) to create the sense that the cumbersome cucumbers sprouted from where they stand. It’s not the first time Wurm has expressed himself this way: In 2010, he exhibited 36 small acrylic gherkins in a local art museum as part of a “self portrait” project.

Pedestrians enjoying a walk in the park can revel in ordinary foodstuff presented as surreal, seemingly personified sculptures. The work is open to interpretation, according to the artist.