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Why did Claes Oldenburg enlarge everyday objects such as hamburgers and cigarette butts?

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Five Andy Warhol paintings of Campbell's soup cans, each labeled with a different soup variety, displayed in a row on a white wall at Museumsquartier in Vienna. — Pop art *Campbell's Soup Cans*, polymer paint on canvas by Andy Warhol, 1962; a selection of five on display in the Museumsquartier, Vienna.

Claes Oldenburg enlarged everyday objects like hamburgers and cigarette butts as part of his development of "soft sculptures," which were typically made of vinyl and stuffed with kapok.123

His focus on these banal products of consumer life was rooted in a fascination with the elements of urban street life, such as advertisements, trash, and store displays. By choosing objects with close human associations—such as food, household items, and personal effects—and rendering them in soft, yielding materials, Oldenburg imbued these mundane items with human and often sexual overtones.2

While Pop artists generally aimed for an impersonal, objective attitude, Oldenburg’s work often carried a subtle social critique; his drooping, oversized sculptures have an undeniably disturbing effect that challenges the viewer's perception of familiar, mass-produced objects.1