Piero Manzoni: The artist who literally sold his own shit
You’ve probably heard of “money for old rope”. Perhaps you’ve struck fortune at a car boot sale and flogged some of your old “shit” for a surprising profit. I know I have: who knew people still like to collect dusty old VHS tapes? But today, we trace the tale of a man who quite literally sold his own excrement as art, and for quite the profit, I hasten to add.
In 1961, an Italian artist named Piero Manzoni jumped on the contemporary abstract/conceptual art bandwagon by collecting his bowel movements in steel cans. One can would be absurd, right? But a collection of movements enclosed in multiple cans – well, that’s the work of a genius.
The project was aptly named ‘Artist’s Shit’ and amassed 90 numbered cans brimming with sewage. Each can was ironically labelled like a food product in English, German and French: “Artist’s Shit, contents 30 gr net freshly preserved, produced and tinned in May 1961.”
The modern art enthusiasts and certified weirdos of the time lauded Manzoni for his sociopolitical statement (or dirty protest). They also respected him for adding a very personal essence to his work. One such enthusiast, Alberto Lucia, exchanged 30 grams of 18-karat gold for one of Manzoni’s limited edition cans. The price of gold at the time meant Manzoni made around $37 on the sale, but the same amount today is worth approximately $1,400.
Manzoni’s strange idea was allegedly conceived when his father, who owned a cannery and objected to his son’s artistic endeavours, said, “Your work is shit.” Somehow taking his father’s derision for advice, Manzoni set about his stinky business – one just hopes he sealed his cans far from his father’s factory or at least gave the machinery a good clean afterwards.
In 2000, the Tate museum in London bought a can for $30,000, which seems reasonable next to the record-breaking sale of $300,000 at a 2016 auction in Milan. I’m not sure how much gold increased in value between 2000 and 2016, but I’m fairly sure Manzoni’s shit left it in the dust.
Some people are sceptical of Manzoni’s project, questioning whether his cans are really full of excrement. Sadly, because the cans are made of steel, x-rays are unable to determine their contents. However, one can allegedly exploded to reveal only plaster, much to the owner’s disappointment and the cleaner’s relief.
Manzoni’s artistic contributions also included signed hard-boiled eggs with his thumbprint on them, a collection of balloons with his breath in them and a giant lump of concrete with a 7,200-metre line etched into it. A true Dadaist, Manzoni favoured whacky concepts over physical, artistic talent. As he once famously said in relation to ‘Artist’s Shit’, “I sell an idea, an idea in a can.”
Sadly, Manzoni died in 1963 at the age of 29 after suffering a heart attack. His legacy has fortunately proved more durable, sealed safely in 89 $300,000 steel cans, a large concrete block and a collection of boiled eggs.