It’s an “absurd sendup of inequality.”
“Throne” is the perfect word for a recently installed toilet at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
It’s made of 18-karat gold.
The toilet, a working replica of a Kohler model, was created by Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist. A Guggenheim press release says Cattelan “is often described as the art world’s resident prankster and provocateur.”
The sculpture, called “America,” is located in a “humble” restroom on the museum’s fifth-floor ramp, according to The New York Times.
The Times describes the sculpture as both “an absurd sendup of inequality (and a commentary on the runaway wealth inside the art world)” and a sort of “gift to the museumgoer, a rare chance to spend private time with something so ravishingly beautiful it’s hard to believe it’s real.”
The cost of the toilet, which is intended to stay in use indefinitely, has not been made public. It was funded by private donations.
Read more from the Guggenheim |
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The New York Times
The public is free to use a recently installed 18-karat gold toilet at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
