Mischief may be Maurizio Cattelan‘s specialty, but don’t be mistaken: The 18-karat-gold toilet he’s installing at the Guggenheim Museum is real.
The Italian artist’s sculpture will dwell in one of the museum’s public restrooms, replacing a standard porcelain model which currently occupies the space. The work, which functions as a participatory project, encourages museum visitors to use the solid gold readymade when nature calls.
The artist named it America, a title which succeeds at articulating his loaded intentions. In a press release, the Guggenheim identifies Cattelan’s reaction to the “excesses of the art market” (of which Cattelan himself benefits as one of the most expensive living artists), and notes that the toilet functions as a facetious jab towards the 1 percent who can afford such ostentatious works.
