Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
- a
- b
- c
- f
- g
- h
- k
- l
- m
- n
- r
- s
- t
- v
- w
- x
Mike Bouchet, US
Mike Bouchet, The Zurich Load, 2016 © Manifesta 11 Zurich / Mike Bouchet.
80,000 kg human sludge, wood, acrylic paint, exhibited at Migros Museum of Contemporary Art
The city of Zurich has a population of 400,000 people, and on average produces 80 tons of human sludge per day. For his contribution to Manifesta 11, Artist Mike Bouchet collaborated with the city’s sewage treatment facility to make a sculpture out of one day’s worth of citizens’ feacal waste. The final sculpture, titled The Zurich Load, was composed of 252 hand pressed blocks, and measured 8 meters wide and over 30 meters long. The particular dimensions and scale were specific to the site, as the shape and form was in relation to the museums load capacity of 500 kilograms per square meter. The work even had its own ventilation system.