| Cloaca | |
|---|---|
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Berriedale_TAS_7011,_Australia_-_panoramio_(2).jpg) Cloaca Professional at the Museum of Old and New Art | |
| Artist | Wim Delvoye |
| Year | 2000-2010 |
| Medium | Installation art |
| Website | Cloaca at Wim Delvoye's website |
Cloaca is a series of art installations by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye. The installations are computerised machines that recreate the human digestive process. The machine takes in food which it moves through a series of pipes and containers where digestive processes are performed following which the machine excretes the digested material at a time advertised to gallery viewers. This digested material has both the look and smell of faeces. Each installation has its own name, logo and technical drawings.
Delvoye began working on the project in the early 1990s but did not produce a working installation until 2000 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. Since the first installation, Cloaca Original, Delvoye has exhibited a further nine Cloaca installations with the final machine, Cloaca Professional, being exhibited in 2010. With each installation the machinery has become more technologically advanced and efficient. Cloaca deals with ideas surrounding biological processes and commercialism, and the aesthetics of the series draws from laboratories, production lines and consumer products. Cloaca has received both positive and negative reviews from critics. Critics also have discussed whether or not the installations can be considered as performing digestion. The general public frequently has a strong reaction to the installations, yet data gathered by the Museum of Old and New Art demonstrated that Cloaca Professional was the work of art that visitors spent the most time with during their visit to the gallery.