Do they reflect the primal instincts of human beings, relating us to cousin ape? Are they representative of one’s infantile helplessness brought on by the economy? Or, were the feces-stained T-shirts hung on a clothesline at one of Yale’s residential campuses simply a foul smelling prank?
According to the Yale Daily News, students received an email at 3:35 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, from the.yale.poopetrator@gmail.com, with the subject “Airing some dirty laundry…” The body of the email said simply, “Last time, promise,” with a smiley face emoticon.
The act came in response to a previous fecal matter (heh), where someone was placing human stool, urine or and/or food in running dryers at another of Yale’s residential colleges (which seems to be the Ivy League term for dorm), leaving students’ clothes with an unpleasant baked-on odor (Chanel No. 2, anyone?).
Whether the “poopetrator” is an artistic genius or a freshman with too much spare time, he or she seems to be gaining the attention they were seeking. Chances are, the suspect piggybacked off the original dryer-soiling student to steal the spotlight. But who knows? Maybe the “poopetrator” has been one person all along, with one very loaded plan.
Using bodily fluids — and in this case, solids — to make art is no new phenomenon.
In 1961, Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni pooed into 90 tin cans, valuing each at their weight in gold to fluctuate according to market.
In 1987, Andres Serano photographed a plastic crucifix submerged in his own urine, dubbing it “Piss Christ.”
A few years ago, while Ingrid Berthon-Moine was still in high school, she photographed a series of women wearing varying shades of red lipstick. The lipstick was their own menstrual blood. (Side note: Instead of CoverGirl’s easy, breezy beautiful, she could have used the slogan moody, bloated, irritable. I should pitch that to her.)
Taking bodily product usage to a completely new level, Polpette Al Grasso Di Marco had some of his own body fat sucked out and combined it with ground beef to make meatballs. He even fed them to unsuspecting dinner guests. Forced cannibalism … not sure what the rules on that are in the United States, but its apparently not illegal in Chile.
In my opinion, as an experienced babysitter and hence changer of doo ridden diapers, the “poopetrator’s” T-shirt stains look more like mud or melted chocolate. However, I don’t blame anyone for failing to test the legitimacy of the ordure.
If the dung is in fact phony, it sort of detracts from the act’s overall statement (which I’m still trying to determine).
We may never know why this student chose to display his or her droppings high above Yale’s cobblestone roads. Maybe Yale art students have outgrown traditional art supplies, such as oil paints and canvas, and needed something new. To some, this may be the work of an excrement visionary.
Disclaimer: This is not a challenge to USF St. Petersburg art students. Please do not use bodily fluids to make art, at least not on campus.
Also, did you notice I used nine synonyms for the word poop? Nine!
