Page 12 - 8PER homage to Merda d_Artista art-work

In 1961 Piero Manzoni (1933-1963) created 90 cans of Merda d’artista
(Artist’s Shit). At least that’s what the label says, because today the real contents
of the box are still mysterious. Although the artist does not often mention it in
his writings, this work fits perfectly in the research he is carrying on the body.
In fact, the year before, Manzoni created the Fiato d’artista (Artist’s Breath), a
balloon sealed on a pedestal and containing his breath. Still in 1961 he signs
the bodies of men and women, issuing them a Certificate of authenticity, or
he raises those who want it on Basi magiche (Magic Bases), transforming into
works of art, for a few minutes or permanently, anyone who would accept this
“pact“ with the artist. In a following writing he plans vials of Sangue d’artista
(Artist’s Blood) and dead bodies in resin cubes; these works will never see the
(05)
light of day, because Manzoni dies suddenly, not yet thirty years old, from a
heart attack.
(02)
But the infamous box since then and still today, as Flaminio Gualdoni writes
in his booklet Short history of the Merda d’artista (Skirà 2014), “continues
to interest us, intrigue us, irritate us, because it is based on an irrevocable
ambiguity, between mystical and corporeal, between high and low, between
vitality and death. Between gold and shit“. The price of the object is set by
the artist in an equivalent amount of gold: 30 grams, to be exact. Today this
(04) little naughty artwork has far exceeded the value of gold and it is certainly,
sixty years later, the most famous work by Manzoni. It is quoted in songs
and music videos, it is the protagonist of books and films, and further artists
(03)
have dedicated it tributes in different materials and sizes. So Merda d’artista
makes us think and asks profound questions, but it also amuses and invites us
to irony and lightness. In this spirit comes the fruitful collaboration with Taplab
wallcovering on the occasion of the anniversary of the work, in order to
create ad hoc wallcoverings, so that the spaces could witness an absolutely
contemporary and current style, having, however, the taste of the magnificent
Italian Sixties, theatre of ideas and positive energies of which Manzoni was
certainly one of the main characters.

Rosalia Pasqualino di Marineo
Director of Piero Manzoni Foundation

(01) Piero Manzoni a Milano, 1961
(02) Piero Manzoni a Herning, 1961
(03 Piero Manzoni mentre firma una Scultura vivente, 1961
(04) Piero Manzoni a Borgio Verezzi, 1956 c.
(05) Piero Manzoni mentre mangia un Uovo scultura a Copenaghen, 1960
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