Wim Delvoye and Cloaca
I promised more Delvoye, and here we have him. If you hadn’t already noticed, he is all over the map. Last time on A&SJ, we checked out his x-ray stained glass. This time, we’re looking at his Cloaca factory - a collection of machines that he has modelled after the human digestive tract, which mimic the process of digestion and turn food into excrement.
In addition to exhibiting his machines in action, Delvoye also sells packaged Cloaca. Treating Cloaca as a consumer product, he has designed a series of logos for this brand, which play with the iconography of companies such as Ford, Mr.Clean, and Chanel.
Many feel that this installation comes off as gimmicky and perverted, but I believe it raises several timely concerns. To name a few: it challenges excessive commoditization, it toys with the possibility of replicating the human body, and it forces us to consider the intricacies of our physical existence.
For more images, visit Delvoye’s site. For an excellent review of the installation, read Els Fiers’ A Human Masterpiece.
