Double Sink

Double Sink is exactly what it seems—a domestic basin with holes where the taps typically go. Gober's sink shows signs of being handmade and is missing the hardware and plumbing fixtures of a functional object. The discrete modifications to this now-functionless form suggest anthropomorphic associations: the dark holes resemble bodily orifices, and the softly curving corners and lip of the sink are likewise creaturely. An early example from the artist's sink series (1983-86), Double Sink draws from Gober's imagination as well as his memories and experiences of the first years of the AIDS epidemic. The object takes on an expressive role as a coded symbol of memory and loss, mystery and regret, humor and pathos.