Most museums do not want to touch the art. But a new sculpture on the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum Really promotes interaction.Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan replaced the toilet in the museum's fourth floor toilet with a fully functional copy cast in 18 carat gold
.Viewers are invited to use solid gold toilet just like they would any other facility.The museum says on its website that the exhibition "offers a kiss to the excesses of the art market but also evokes the American dream of opportunity for all.Cattelan is often described as the art world's resident prankster and provocateur.The new work makes available to the public an extravagant luxury product seemingly designed for the wealthy one percent.A security guard will stand on the toilet entrance as people wait to use it, and will explain to visitors that it is a piece of art before they enter. (The guard will probably protect the installation from those hoping to walk away with a valuable souvenir.)Its participatory nature, in which viewers are invited to make use of the fixture individually and privately, allows for an experience of unprecedented intimacy with an artwork.
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