Cloaca
- March 4th, 2010
- Posted in Uncategorized
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I have been obsessing about Cloaca since I knew of it’s existence – which was precisely 3 days ago.
Not that I want to get overly dramatic and Spenglerian here by screaming “Untergang des Abendlandes”*** or anything like that – but civilizations are also often defined as organisms, yes? And organisms grow old and die. And one of the signs of old age dementia, as far as I am aware, is a fascination with feces.
Now, had this been something that one person had made, financed out of their own pocket as an anti-art establishment statement, it would be a different matter entirely. After all, how is this so very different from Duchamp’s urinal some may well ask? Well, the difference lies in the fact that Cloaca cost hundreds of thousands of Euro’s to build (it is a very sophisticated and complex robot) and apparently art and culture agencies world-wide were racing with one another to finance it. And now museums are lined up to exhibit it, paying colossal monthly fees (one, right here in my home town being amongst them, if what an acquaintance of mine told me today is anything to go by).
So, no, Cloaca is not one man’s brave/humorous stance against what he considers to be a rotten to the core art establishment but a direct product of that very art establishment itself. An establishment which sees art works solely as objects of entertainment and which as far as I can see, is part and parcel of a very old, very tired human race that has lost faith and direction… Sorry, I know this sounds more pessimistic than even pessimistic, but I happen to believe that this is in fact the case. I have been thinking this and feeling it deep inside my bones for a very long time anyway. Cloaca just really brought it home to me one more final time.
And in one way, this is a liberation of sorts as well: To (re)quote the Beatles – “but oh that magic feeling, no where to go…”. We are now all free to “be”. No more responsibilities. No more plans. No more big ambitions. No more big tomorrows…
…
I cannot give this a category as a “good thing” – obviously. It has to remain “uncategorized”. There are no categories anywhere on this blog that this would fit into.
…
*** I want to make it very clear that when I say Abendland, this is in no way an “anti-western” statement: We are a global culture, possibly with shades and tones of Abendland. One thing however, at least for me, is certain: There is no more “Morgenland”. We are all in the same boat, all of us equally affected and/or equally guilty and/or innocent.
…
Afterthought: I have focused upon the funding of Cloaca and not the individual who made it, Vim Delvoye, since it is not so much the work itself but the system that supports it and applauds it that is an issue here. So, a thing to consider may also be whether this was not Vim Delvoye’s aim also? In other words, are he and I on the same side? We would have been, yes – IF! He had exposed the whole “thing” upon completion. Published all the budget sheets. Declared every penny, endorsement and commendation obtained from every art agency that was ever involved with this. And declared that THAT exposure had been the reason behind Cloaca. As far as I am aware he never did so. Had he done so, and if he ever does so at some point in the future, then yes. We will be on the same side.
It seems so… corrupt… so aesthetically bankrupt, a stunt. I think there’s enough in the idea of artificial excrement for one drawing or two, but to make many expensive robotic versions for the same concept just seems to be a successful money-making stunt. The art establishment does its best to make art a commodity. For much art spreading an aura of edginess over its collectors is its singular purpose.
Thank you for this Osprey. I wish it were a stunt, but I doubt that it is. And even if it were – if it is successful as such, it is again symptomatic of some kind of decay. Or maybe one can say, it was not conceived of as a stunt any more so than a lot of the other stuff out there.
The thing which I have been thinking about more than anything else was my own lack of shock when I came across this. And that this was also the case with most people that I showed this to, colleagues and students: Some were grossed out – of course, and even more were “interested/impressed” – of course! But no one was overly surprised, somehow it was entirely within the realm of the expected. It did not really fall outside of what they had taken for granted as art over the past few decades, you see. Sure, there have been no s— machines before Cloaca, but the milieu is such that creating one as artwork is entirely feasible, a logical next step even. And that is really what I have been obsessing about.
By “stunt” I meant a work that was intended to shock the viewers for no other reason than that shocking people is equated with edginess, and edginess sells. I don’t see much else here.
I suppose if the artist whole-heartedly believes in his creation that makes it worse. If that’s what we are reduced to it’s sad.
After I read your blogpost I showed it to a friend and we discussed it – she agreed with you, as do I.
I just heard about the earthquake in Turkey – I hope your loved ones are safe.
Thank you Osprey. The earthquake happened over a thousand miles away from here. I live in Istanbul and Elazig, where it happened is all the way across the country. So, no unsafe loved ones for me, but very sad nonetheless. Apparently 41 people died and that is a scarcely populated rural area. So, it must have been a very big one. But, we are living under the pall of an impending very big one here in Istanbul as well, in a city of 15 million people…
And yes, it is all very sad! Very depressing.