Practice What You Preach
Practice What You Preach
object, 2 x 2,5 kg steel discs, 30 wax candles, Anton Terziev, 2020. Edition 1 from 3 +1AP. Size: 18 x 30 x 18 cm
Photo: © the artist. Nicolai Nedelchev collection
Production credits: Stoyan Dechev, Lyubomir Dimitrov
Featured in
Ref to This Year Will Be Different
Never shown in public
Practice What You Preach - in the making/ details. Photo: © the artist
Anton Terziev’s Practice What You Preach immediately calls to mind the language of assemblage and readymade sculpture that emerged in the early twentieth century. By combining two weight plates with a cluster of uncooked spaghetti acting as a bar, Terziev simultaneously references the solidity of iron and the fragility of pasta—materials that stand at opposite ends of the durability spectrum. This juxtaposition evokes a Duchampian spirit, wherein the choice and repositioning of everyday objects prompts the viewer to question assumptions about functionality, strength, and permanence.
From an art historical standpoint, Terziev’s piece engages with the tradition of conceptual art, particularly in its use of wit and wordplay. The phrase “practice what you preach” often implies living up to moral or philosophical principles; here, it is humorously subverted by a “weightlifting” device that would collapse under any real pressure. The sculptural form becomes a clever visual pun: while the “weights” suggest discipline and self-improvement, the pasta “bar” hints at the precariousness of such ideals in practice. This tension is reminiscent of the Surrealists’ fascination with improbable combinations of objects and the inherent instability of human constructs.
Moreover, the use of ordinary materials such as spaghetti resonates with post-war artistic movements that valued humble or everyday mediums—Joseph Beuys’s felt and fat, for instance, or Arte Povera’s “poor” materials. By situating a banal household item within the realm of art, Terziev blurs the boundary between the domestic and the monumental, as well as between the conceptual and the tangible.
Ultimately, Practice What You Preach wields humor to pose deeper questions about integrity, vulnerability, and the nature of sculptural form. It invites the viewer to contemplate how we bear the “weight” of our convictions—while recognizing the fragile, often absurd, realities behind them.