Koons’ work explores universal themes such as the cycle of life and death, as well as issues specific to contemporary American society. Consumer culture, which prizes packaging over content, and the incorporation of manufactured items into works of art were integral parts of Koons’ vision – to direct something “new” at a potential consumer. This work is from a series of thirty-five works made with vacuums called “The New”. By placing the vacuums on hermetically-sealed display, Koons attempted to preserve their freshness, using lighting to further glorify them as eternally desirable commodities. This work became a quintessential artwork of the 1980s, a decade known for its rampant consumerism.

Koons referred to the vacuums as “breathing machines,” as air and liquid pass through them, and suggested this work has a family relationship of “papa, mama, and baby”. A continuation of the life cycle metaphor, the encasing of the vacuums attempts to preserve their newness, but ultimately fails. The container references a womb or incubator, but by contrast may also suggest a sealed tomb. The lights assist this paradox. While they are on, the sculpture is “alive”; when the plug is pulled, it “dies”.