THE SHIT MUSEUM

My first curatorial project born out of boredom and contemplation of an ever-dry shower.

Video by Mary Hovsepyan

punk, post punk, poster, zine — Event poster by Mary Hovsepyan

THE SHIT MUSEUM (curatorial text)

This temporary exhibition that maintained its working title - “Shit Museum”, was born out of boredom and many-many short minutes making up long hours of contemplation in the spacious bathroom on the 3rd floor of the Institute for Contemporary Art. Although artistic eyes and ears are wired to detect the 3rd floor movement* reference, it is a pure coincidence and bears no intentional connection to this initiative of questionable purpose and value.
The history of shit in art is as old as shit itself, and the idea of the shit museum isn’t new either. There is Museo della Merda in Italy - a serious scientific hub studying human and animal excrement since ancient times (there is a fossil poop and toilet paraphernalia from Pompeii in their collection). This exhibition, however, addresses no particular problem, but rather lightly touches upon some aspects of this everyday biological rite and its massive cultural buildup.
The 4-storey building of the ICA has the acoustics of a public pool, so the toilet on the top oor creates an illusion of a healthy distance, privacy, and safety, where one can enjoy relief, a few minutes of solitude, and centering. It’s a strange moment of isolation creating some mental/or physical space, a void, that our corrupt brains want to instantly fill with meaning, physical objects, and place-holders of all sorts.
Let's be honest, we as humans are all prone to the phenomenon of “toilet boredom” - the unbearable mental void, now successfully filled and killed with smartphones. Before, there were books, b*tt-wiping instructions, and ingredients on the back of air freshener cans, as well as a thorough examination of the toilet paper wrapping.
Free areas within a space that isn’t even empty, in many people become a nerve-irritant reaching its extreme form as a total intolerance of any void. This void translates into the absence of something, the absence implying presence somewhere else (that can or cannot be reached). This statement isn’t true or false, but in one’s mind, it is valid enough to induce the desire of filling or substitution.
Inserting a cultural object into a place that isn’t meant for or doesn’t need that object symbolizes the closure of a metaphysical hole outside of that physical space or physical realm as such.
However, the toilet is a result of cultural development and it evolved around one of the most important human rituals. So the idea of linking cultural objects or works of art to a toilet space isn’t that groundless. Or is it? This is a question, and a question is another manifestation of the void - a space asking to be filled.
This small exhibition called “museum” is dedicated to the strange peculiarity of living organisms - the constant consumption and expulsion of matter, and the culture that revolved around it - from sophisticated porcelain piss pots
(bourdaloue) to scented bags for collecting dog poops, diapers, piles of philosophical literature, and low-blow fiction that would otherwise never meet one another.
Shit is a personal thing, and I have always been a solo player. Initially, I planned to all by myself, and only invite my other 4 colleagues, Lilit, Achod, Julia, and Maria, who are ok with my personality outside working hours.
Little did I know that so many artists whose work I admire would be so enthusiastic about this small act of … what. I don’t know. It’s a reality now, and the product of the toilet boredom of a regular cultural worker turned into an exciting collective experience powered by renewable ecological fuel.

Carine Aroyan, the shitty artist-curator

*In 1987, a few artists set up an exhibition in the exhibition hall of the Artists’ Union, instead, they got the permission of holding an exhibition on the conference hall - on the 3rd floor. The movement called itself “3rd floor” and its members considered themselves “art terrorists.” It became a non-exhibition space which symbolized their stand of being “out” of the current establishment. (source: chaikhana.media).