The retro garde art “movement” known as Crapismo has never really gone away since its inception, but recently has been eclipsed by the more fluid Pissism and Crotchrocketry schools. Now, Santiago Sierra has arrived to revitalize classical Crappism:
An artist is inviting Londoners to come face-to-face with the wretched labour of one of India’s lowest castes – by filling an art gallery with 21 big blocks of human excrement.
The monoliths are the brainchild of Santiago Sierra, whose previous work includes pumping a disused German synagogue full of poisonous car exhaust and an attempt to write the word Submission in giant, flaming letters near the US-Mexican border.
The Spanish-born artist’s curator at the Lisson Gallery, Elena Crippa, said his intention was to confront audiences with the horror of the scavengers, the so-called untouchables who have traditionally cleaned private toilets and outhouses in India.
The human waste used in the exhibit was gathered from the Indian cities of Delhi and Jaipur by volunteers working for Sulabh International, a human rights organisation devoted to helping improve the lives of scavengers. The muck was left to sit for three years before being mixed with plastic, moulded into man-sized blocks and shipped to Britain, by which point, Crippa said, it was the sanitary equivalent of dirt.
Sierra’s work often seems intended to incite disgust or outrage. Past stunts have included spraying workers with toxic polyurethane foam or paying drug-addicted prostitutes for the right to tattoo lines on their backs.
A catalogue distributed by the gallery suggested the slabs of excrement were meant to shock by bringing the scavengers’ work “too close for comfort.”
“As long as exploitation remains on the other side of the glass, we can quietly rest our heads on our pillows, clutching a fair trade chocolate bar in our fist,” it said.
Art from excrement has a long pedigree. In 1961 Italian Piero Manzoni produced 90 cans of Artist’s (Poop), each labelled as containing 30 grams of “freshly preserved” material.
Visitors to the gallery expressed enthusiasm, some stating that being confronted with sculptures made from human excrement made them feel better about their consumption of fair-trade chocolate bars. Some took advantage of the opportunity to purchase “exploitation offsets” from the artist, which can be purchased in booklets of various denominations. “This is the perfect Christmas gift for my girlfriends at University,” said Angela Puffin-Toff, 20. “Anytime they splurge a little, they can recycle a ticket, and they won’t have anything to feel bad about.”
Some would argue that recent examples of “found art,” such as the following, are really much more ingenious:
The charred remains of a man thought to have fallen from an aircraft were found in a garden in a Paris suburb, police officials said.
Particulary in view of electronic media, which make it possible for many “first-worlders” to view slabs of human excrement from the comfort of their own homes, whenever they like.
More art (warning, video)
You should see the art I create after a night of brats and beer at the beergarden.
I’d like to start the bidding at one hundr…no, ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!
I guess that makes the infamous “Two Girls – 1 Cup” Brazilian scat video an art house flick … I guess my tastes just aren’t sophisticated enough to appreciate cutting edge art..
On the upside, though, it does amuse the hell out of me to imagine some rich art patron with more money than brains smugly showing off his newly acquired million dollar turd monolith… “.. notice the artist’s bold use of corn and peanuts in his medium..” hahaahaha It’s too rich.
I don’t think SEK was actually being a dolt about Adkins; I took it as an attempt at humor. I appreciated it; I even chuckled (so to speak) a little bit.
I think Adkins is real, but I wouldn’t use him as a source in any attempt at reporting (as in: the news) until I’d checked to make sure. And by checked, I mean that I’d want to get a pulse.
You never know when the Walking Dead will make their online presence known, after all.
I even chuckled (so to speak) a little bit.
Five minutes in the penalty box!
Wow, and the Europeans wonder why Americans think they are wackos.
slabs of human excrement…
Finally, the essential definition of Contemporary Art.
Slartibart, I know Chuck is virtually “real,” and I wasn’t criticizing Scott. I was referring to the slab himself.
Chuck and I, we go back:
https://proteinwisdom.com/?p=9963
https://www.proteinwisdom.com/?p=9965
https://proteinwisdom.com/?p=9973
https://proteinwisdom.com/?p=10038
There might be others.
I was responding to SEK’s comments more than yours, Dan. Sorry about that; typepad doesn’t like me for some reason, so I wind up putting my comments in places other than where they ought to be, sometimes.
The rest of my comment about not using him as a source was a lameish attempt to blaze more trail along the direction Scott took.
Naw, it’s not you. I’m posting from work between crises.
Me, too. That’s the part of me that typepad doesn’t like, evidently.
There’s a series of billboard ads in Chicago for the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art that cry out in big letters: FEAR NO ART.
Honey, when I’m bending over in laughter at you, that’s not “fear.”
I didn’t know there were that many Dem presidential candidates.
That giant sucking sound you hear is the art world officially Moving Beyond Parody. This is the kind of thing that wearies satrists and makes one simply want to start slapping people.
To whom is it meant to be relevatory that Shit smells bad, and that performing Shit-related labor has it’s downsides?
Jesus Monkey-Shit Christ, who is it that enables this clown? Who is it that says “Oh, how daring and multitextual!” Or worse, says “Well, it’s not my cup of rabbit-poo tea, but we must make allowances for artistic expression.”
Expression my ass (and how often have you ever expected to hear “pardon the pun” after THAT phrase?). This isn’t even ironic. He is PUTTING GIANT BLOCKS OF SHIT IN AN ART GALLERY, SO PEOPLE CAN SMELL SHIT.
Anyone else feel like starting an ugly rumor that inside each block of dung there’s an image of Mohammed?
Too late.
You can get a grant for that, you know.
Somebody needs to explain to me the fallacy of my contention that people who throw money at either high fashion or radical art are shallow, narcissistic, society grubbing suckers.
Anyone? Bueller?
Not I, said the capitalist pig.
BJ – I do not understand couture. it is generally so over the top that it could only be worn at a Hollywood party. I always thought it would be much easier to carry a neon sign that says look at me, I crave attention, and have too much money so I will pay $400 for a pair of jeans that are not half as good as a 10 year old pair of $25 levi’s.
Ok, I understand that it is 21 big blocks of human excrement but how many Courics does that amount to? What’s the conversion rate?
People did some pretty strange stuff when I was an art student, but I guess they just didn’t really apply themselves.
In 1961 Italian Piero Manzoni produced 90 cans of Artist’s (Poop), each labelled as containing 30 grams of “freshly preserved†material.
If I recall that undergrad art history class correctly, the “artist” sold the cans for the same price as gold by weight. Also, several of the cans have exploded over the years, which has caused the value of the remaining cans to go up.
Hmm… looks like I was right. One of the remaining… er …specimens sold for 124,000 Euro recently.
Well, if my $#!+ is worth its weight in gold, I guess I’m just gonna have to go ahead and have my septic tank pumped out.
Who needs to strike oil?