I wasn’t even aware that a president could request to borrow a piece of artwork from a museum, but apparently they can.
President Donald Trump had made a request to the Guggenheim Museum to borrow a Vincent van Gogh painting to hang in the White House. Instead, they decided to troll the president, offering him an 18-karat fully functional golden toilet.
The piece of “art” was commissioned by Italian “artist” Maurizio Cattelan. He calls the piece “America,” and of course, it has some abstract political point we’re supposed to pretend is brilliant. Cattelan had “America” replace a toilet in the Guggenheim’s restroom, making available to the public an extravagant luxury product seemingly intended for the 1 percent. The timing of the exhibit aligned with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement briefly popping up.
According to the Washington Examiner,
Now that the exhibit is over, Nancy Spector, the museum’s chief curator, told the Post the artist “would like to offer it to the White house for a long-term loan.”
Known to be a satirical and provocative artist, Cattelan has told reporters he leaves the interpretation of his work to his audience, but described the toilet “as 1 percent art for the 99 percent.”
President Trump seems to have a particular taste for gold-plated fixtures and furniture. His own Boeing 757 has more gold-plated features than Air Force One.
Whether President Trump will accept the offer to host the used toilet from the Guggenheim Museum is an open question, given the president’s well-known germaphobia. More than 100,000 people have used the toilet.
It’s doubtful that Trump will accept the offer, which is hard to interpret as anything else but an insult.
Disgusting insult to @RealDonaldTrump by @Guggenheim. Shameful. https://t.co/RgbzmfazIk
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 26, 2018
I don’t think it would be in the spirit of the piece to hand it over to a member of the 1 percent anyway.
What should Trump do? Should he accept the toilet? Tell us your thoughts below!
