From the early days, conceptual art, like Duchamp’s urinal and Manzoni’s canned shit, has always courted controversy. But it hasn’t actually caused chaos — until now.
The harmonious landscaped gardens of the Zentrum Paul Klee museum in Berne, Switzerland, have been home for the past few months to what might possibly be the largest piece of crap art ever made. American artist Paul McCarthy has created a giant inflatable dog turd, the size of a house, entitled Complex Shit.
The monstrous heap of turds was secured in the gardens by anchors and had a built-in safety system that would ensure that it deflated in times of bad weather. Unfortunately, during a sudden gust of strong wind on July 31st, the safety valve (presumably some sort of sphincter) failed. Complex Shit broke free of its moorings and sailed, as gracefully as a house-sized turd can, out of the park.
Its freedom didn’t last long, however, as within two hundred meters it managed to bring down a power line. It came to ground ignominiously after breaking a window of a children’s home.
Juri Steiner, the museum’s director, said that they were not sure if the exhibit would be put back on display. Mr. Steiner also failed to mention what the orphans thought of their home being assaulted by an enormous mound of flying feces.
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