16 September,2016 07:00 AM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
A fully functioning solid gold toilet, made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, went into public use at the Guggenheim Museum in New York
Pic/AFP
A fully functioning solid gold toilet, made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, went into public use at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
A guard will be stationed outside the bathroom to protect the work, entitled 'America', which recalls Marcel Duchamp's famous work, 'Fountain'
As part of his "America" exhibit at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan replaced the toilet in the museum's fourth-floor restroom with a fully functional replica cast in 18-karat gold.
Viewers are invited to use the solid gold toilet just as they would any other facility. It's the first piece Cattelan has exhibited since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim.
The museum says on its website that the exhibit "offers a wink to the excesses of the art market but also evokes the American dream of opportunity for all."
-With inputs from agencies
