By the late 1908s, Swedish-American artist Claes Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, had made a name for themselves creating large replicas of household objects for public art installations across the globe.

[2] In contrast to many of the other contracted artists who created work to be placed beside the coast, Oldenburg and van Bruggen remarked that they were “more interested in the residential areas being developed for the Olympic Games that would afterward become new neighborhoods”.

[2] Accordingly, the piece was designed to be placed in the newly developed La Vall d’Hebron neighborhood, wherein the many competitions were held for the games.

The centerpiece, located at the intersection of Avinguda Cardenal Vidal i Barraquer and Carrer Pare Mariana, in front of the Pavilion of the Spanish Republic, shows five matches being bent out of a matchbox.

Two statues stand across Avinguda Cardenal Vidal i Barraquer, directly east of the centerpiece, showing another burnt match and another that has not been struck.