Merda of artista

Merda d' Artista is a work of the Artiste Italy N Piero Manzoni influenced by the Ready-made S of Marcel Duchamp.

In May 1961, Piero Manzoni déféqua in 90 small cans, (more precisely it deposited thirty grams of Excrément by box to sell thereafter these boxes with the price of thirty grams Or according to the value of the rate of gold) on which was registered “Merde of artist” in various languages. These boxes all were now sold and are found in various collections of art in the whole world and are negotiated at an high price, except however for some which probably exploded because of the corrosion of the box and the pressure of gas…

Since its creation, this series was disseminated in the whole world. Today, the value of a box is of approximately 30 500 € (25 000 with 35 000 USD).

Manzoni sold only very few boxes of alive sound. It gave them to his friends or fact exchanges with other artists.

Anecdotes

Among the boxes having known problems of sealing, there would be that given to Jens Jorgen Thorsen, Danish artist died in 2001. Little time before its death, it stated to have thrown them because of the odor. The municipal museum of Randers (Denmark) knew a serious problem in 1998 when a box lent by a collector started to flee. The collector initially required a compensation - less shit thus loss in value, then a generous artist offered it to the museum and paid the 30 000 € claimed by the collector. The analyzes carried out at the time by the insurance company showed that they were excrements indeed, without one being able to say if their source were human or animal.

Marina Fossati, collector and consulting in Multinational strategy near S, was so much afraid which its box starts to flee, that it left it some time in her refrigerator on the councils of one of her friends specialists, front, pushed by her husband, to succeed in exchanging it.

A box lent to the Museum Serpentine of London during the great traditional exposition in Manzoni at the end of the 20th century, was returned to its owner, the Milanese notary Consolandi. The released odor did not leave doubts about the origin of the matters included.

With regard to the problem of the value of the reducing boxes, for Pierre Cornet of Cyr Saint, celebrates it appraiser, so many boxes start to flee, then it that is belonged to the nature of work. In this case, that does not change anything with its value.

Another anecdocte is that MAC in Marseilles has also a box of Manzoni open at the time of a performance. The can contains in fact another smaller box inside.

See too

Cloaca
"each one its merde" documentary from Hugues Peyret, 53 '.

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