Wim Delvoye
Cloaca 2000 – 2007
Casino Luxembourg -
Forum d’art contemporain
41, rue Notre-Dame
L-2240 Luxembourg
B.P. 345 / L-2013 Luxembourg
T. +352 22 50 45
F. +352 22 95 95
info [at] casino-luxembourg.lu
The Casino Luxembourg — Forum d’art contemporain, in collaboration with the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam Luxembourg), proudly presents an extensive monographic exhibition of Wim Delvoye’s fabulous project Cloaca, on show from 30 September 2007 to 6 January 2008.
For the first time ever, the exhibition Wim Delvoye: Cloaca 2000 – 2007 brings together the seven machines that have been produced so far — Cloaca Original, Cloaca – New & Improved, Cloaca Turbo, Cloaca Quattro, Cloaca N%-Þg; 5, Super Cloaca and Personal Cloaca — alongside more than 200 original drawings, 3D and x-ray photographs, models, sealed bags of Cloaca Faeces and other paraphernalia that assemble to form one of the most extraordinary artistic endeavours of all times.
Also for the first time, two Cloaca — a first-generation model (Cloaca – New & Improved, 2001) and a more recent model (Personal Cloaca, 2007) — will function simultaneously. On display at the Casino Luxembourg, they are scheduled to run for the entire duration of the show and will be fed by local caterers. In a worldwide premiere, Mudam Luxembourg will furthermore activate Super Cloaca for three days starting Saturday, 13 October (museum night). The machine will be on display at Mudam until 26 November.
Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca series is a human dream come true in that it reproduces the functioning of the human body. Thanks to an unprecedented combination of art and science, these machines-as-artworks, while retaining an undeniable popular character, inscribe themselves in a historic tradition that ranges from Jacques de Vaucanson’s (1709-1782) famous Canard [Duck] to the no less notorious Merda d’artista [Artist’s shit] by Piero Manzoni (1933-1963). Witty and poetic, Delvoye’s devices nevertheless introduce a new era, which is that of the cybernetic and entrepreneurial artist who designs the machine that creates his works, ridding the figure of the artist of the romanticism commonly attached to it and inserting his products in the global economic system, even going so far as to introduce them to the stock market www.cloaca.be
A specially furbished Cloaca Shop at the Casino Luxembourg will hold an assortment of books and specifically created Cloaca products: Cloaca T-shirts, a Wim Delvoye doll, a 3D Viewmaster, Cloaca toilet paper, bags, etc.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated book (French/English edition) with original texts by Luis Cammitzer, Michael Glasmeier and Jens Hauser, which is already on sale online www.casino-luxembourg.lu/publications
Curator: Enrico Lunghi
Assistants: Guillaume Baudin and Kevin Muhlen
The exhibition was made possible with the precious help of the Studio Wim Delvoye in Ghent info@cloaca.be
Associated caterers (Luxembourg): Brasserie des Nations, Restaurant Contact, Hôtel-Restaurant Cravat, Ristorante-Pizzeria Il Cherubino, Maison Paul Elio & Fils, Coffee Lounge, La table du pain, Mesa Verde
