Name: Turns Out You CAN Polish a Turd - Gymnastics
Uploaded: 2020-03-20T16:57:26.000+01:00
Duration: 292 s
Description: Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, the Italian artist Piero Manzoni sold tins of his own poop, the price of which was indexed to gold. Was he making fun of the art world? And what would drive somebody to buy it?

'Merda d'artista': l'arte di trasformare la cacca in oro

Gymnastique

Turns Out You CAN Polish a Turd

Flick Flack

El arte de convertir mierda en oro

Sztuka robienia złota z g***

Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, the Italian artist Piero Manzoni sold tins of his own poop, the price of which was indexed to gold. Was he making fun of the art world? And what would drive somebody to buy it?

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Cultural Brain Stretching

Gymnastics

Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, the Italian artist Piero Manzoni sold tins of his own poop, the price of which was indexed to gold. Was he making fun of the art world? And what would drive somebody to buy it?<br /><br /><br />

Italian artist Piero Manzoni sold tins of his own poop

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Yurts, tipis, igloos: traditional homes are round, but most modern buildings are full of harsh right angles. In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved creations started popping up in France. But it was a brief movement that fell out of favour.

In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved homes started popping up in France

Why Live In a Bubble House?

California, 1962: as counter-culture boomed, Corita Kent created her first pop-art paintings. The nun and art teacher mixed Jefferson Airplane, Pepsi and Bible verses in her work. But her activism and political convictions would force her to hang up her habit.

How a nun became a counter-cultural icon thanks to her art

Corita Kent, the Pop Culture Nun

Stadiums filled with raving fans, millions of dollars in contracts and fierce competition: esports is no longer a fad, and could even be headed to the Olympics. A look back on how it all began.

Esports is now mainstream. We take a look back at where it all began

Esport: Born in 1972?

The trolley problem asks, is it better to let 5 people die or choose to kill only 1? And now that problem is more pressing than ever with the advent of self-driving cars. Do they think? And what role should morality play in their decision-making process?

A self-drivng car won't just get you from A to B, it'll make crucial decisions in those life-or-death moments right before a car accident

Are Self-Driving Cars Moral?

A 1960s icon and a martial arts legend, Bruce Lee is still beloved as the king of martial arts the world over. But Quentin Tarantino may have committed the small crime of lese-majesty in his latest film. He asks: was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

Was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

Was Bruce Lee Actually Good at Fighting?

A tribute to nature and a classic coming-of-age film, Bambi is not just a cute Walt Disney cartoon. It first started off as a novel by Austrian writer Felix Salten, which was banned by the Nazi authorities in 1936. So why did the story of this harmless deer draw the ire of the facist censors?

Why Burn Bambi?

Statues are silent observers of our everyday lives... and most of the time they go unnoticed as city dwellers bustle from one destination to the next. But now statues are having their moment in the spotlight. When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths.

When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths

Why are Statues Controversial?

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These aren't doodles: Art Spiegelman or Marjane Satrapi's books are pieces of literary art

The Origin Story of the Graphic Novel

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White noise, pink noise, brown noise: tune in to a sound with a tune, melody, or rhythm

Relax, Listen to Noise

Birds have inspired many great composers, and like all self-respecting performers, they improvise and only sing when they are happy. But can you call them musicians?

Birds have inspired many great composers, but can you call them musicians?

Are Birds Musicians?

Some letters never reach their destination, whether by accident or design. This missing mail is brought back to life thanks to artist Adrianna Wallis. In a high tech world saturated by data, has the art of letter writing definitively died? 

In a high tech world saturated by data, has the art of letter writing definitively died?

The Search for Lost Letters

In response to the planned obsolescence programmed by the giants of the web, artist Olia Lialina designs interactive works that revive old tech. Will she succeed in saving the Internet?

Meet the artist hacking the internet to revive old tech

Olia Lialina: The Artist Who's Saving the Internet

Mohamed Ali was aware of the power of image. A genius boxer and king of communication, he surrounded himself with the best photographers of his time and attracted the interest of the press, shaping his own iconography. So how did Muhammad Ali win the fight to control his image?

Mohamed Ali wasn't just a genius boxer, but a king of communication

Mohamed Ali: The Legend of a Fighter

Degas’s The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer hit the headlines at the Impressionist exhibition because of its shocking hyperrealism. It's found to be an ugly and crudely done piece. But the real scandal wasn't the work's reception, but the life of the young dancer herself and the treatment of her peers. 

Degas’s The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer has a sad history behind it

Degas, Backstage at the Opera

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style. This baroque opera, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau, is an ode to colonial exoticism, and its reworking is the brainchild of Bintou Dembélé, the first black woman to choreograph a ballet at the Paris Opera.

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style

Operatic Hip Hop: Dance Decolonised

Would you attend a gallery exhibition with the paintings turned to face the wall? Probably not. And yet curators find a huge wealth of information about the painting based off of the clues left on the back of the canvas and its frame.

Would you attend a gallery exhibition with the paintings turned to face the wall? Probably not...

The Picture Behind the Picture

We've all experienced lockdown in the past year, but one artist has been doing his own self-imposed lockdowns for years. For Abraham Poincheval, confinement is just another form of artistic expression.

For Abraham Poincheval, confinement is just another form of artistic expression

Confined for Art

They cry, they cry and they faint at the Beatles or One Direction concerts: they are the fans. One might think that this isn't a recent phenomenon. In the 19th century, a pianist prodigy drew big crowds. His name: Franz Liszt. Long before beatlemania, there was "Lisztomania".

Long before beatlemania, there was "Lisztomania"

Franz Liszt, the First Rock Star

In many French cities, there are feminist messages hastily pasted across the walls, denouncing rape and violence against women. They come from a long tradition of feminist protest first sparked off by Oympe de Gouges.

In many French cities, there are feminist messages hastily pasted across the walls, denouncing rape and violence against women

Street Art Takes on Patriarchy

How can an artist unblock writer's block and free themselves of the fear of the blank page? Producer and musician Brian Eno has found the solution: a card game. Called Oblique Strategie", it gave artists inspiration when they had none. David Bowie composed his unforgettable Heroes thanks to this very strange game.

David Bowie composed his unforgettable Heroes thanks to this very strange game

The Game That Saved David Bowie

If Monopoly today is a cheerful celebration of capitalism, it actually didn't start off that way. Its creator, a working class woman who barely made any money from it, had devised the game as a way of denoucing the worst excesses of unfettered capitalism. 

Let's give credit where credit is due: the creator of Monopoly was a working class woman who barely made any money from it

When Monopoly Was Anti-Capitalist

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A generation of feminist artists are determined to end the shame around menstruation

The Art of Menstruation

Designer Erik Spiekermann explains how he created the map for Berlin's newly unified public transport network, just after reunification and the fall of the Berlin wall.

Designer Erik Spiekermann explains how he created the map for Berlin's newly unified public transport network

How a Map Healed Berlin

Federico Fellini is renowned for his extravagant productions. On the sets, there was often a mixture of creativity and chaos. But why did the filmmaker make his actors recite numbers and pasta recipes rather than scripts?

Federico Fellini's creative process was chaotic but legendary

Carbonara Alla Fellini

At the first hint of sadness, out comes the pints of icecream and the sad power ballads. But why is listening to sad music our idea of a good time? Does sad music make us happy?

Why is listening to sad music our idea of a good time?

Why Do We Love Sad Music?

In old paintings, the subjects never smile. Up until the 18th century, every figure was sombre and strict-looking, because smiling was considered uncouth. 

In old paintings, the subjects never smile

Why Do Old Portraits Look Grumpy?

The Dreamachine is a cylinder that generates a psychedelic light that triggers strange visions in the people who look at it: it's a drug-free high. Its inventors even thought it would replace TV.

The Dreamachine triggers a drug-free high in th people who look at it

The Dreamachine Trip

In a time before social media and dating apps gay people communicated their sexual preferences to one another with a subtle code of colour-coded hankies. What is left of this practice today?

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From Baudelaire to Cocteau to Hemingway, artists have often chosen the company of cats. This artist-animal relationship has inspired many works. Why are so many artists so obsessed with cats?

Why are so many artists so obsessed with cats?

Cats and Artists, a Love Story

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Football is Art

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You've probably never heard of Pamela Colman Smith, but you have seen her work

Pamela Colman Smith, the Tarot Card Artist

We all spent a lot of time looking out the window during lockdown, but the artists always have. From Flemish paintings to Hitchcock, how does the window feature in the history of art?

We all spent a lot of time looking out the window during lockdown, but the artists always have

Art and Windows

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Women have been portrayed as evil throughout the ages, from Eve right through to Yoko Ono

The Yoko Ono Effect

Their whole life is spent in front of an audience, but most actors and musicians sick with stage fright rarely talk about how their nerves impact them. How to explain this paradox? Does stage fright help them?

Is stage fright an advantage for actors and musicians?

Is Stage Fright Good?

It's a sound you know, a shrill echo from beyond the grave you can hear everywhere, from 'Amityville' to 'Poltergeist' to 'The X-Files'. A sort of deep, wavy creak that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. It comes from a strange, little-known, unique instrument.

It's a sound you know, a shrill echo from beyond the grave you can hear everywhere, from 'Amityville' to 'Poltergeist' to 'The X-Files'

The Soundtrack to Your Nightmares

Gymnastics - Cultural Brain Stretching

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In 1917 Marcel Duchamp conquered the contemporary art scene with his urinal tilted at a 90 degree angle. Since then, artists have repeatedly alienated objects from their original context and meaning to challenge the viewer's perception. The photographer and sculptor Philippe Ramette creates incredible images that laugh in the face of gravity.

The photographer and sculptor Philippe Ramette creates incredible images that laugh in the face of gravity

Gravity-Defying Art

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Meet the artist who thinks letters are sexy

Porno-graphics (.)(.)

Discover contemporary cycling culture in three European cities: Berlin, the unofficial capital of vintage racing bikes. London, where cycle-cafés also hold speed dating evenings and Amsterdam where cyclists stand out from the crowd with style.

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Discover contemporary cycling culture in three European cities: Berlin, London and Amsterdam.

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In Japan, the “washlet” combines Western toilets with Japanese hygiene standards. A clever combination of comfort and cleanliness, they're considered a basic essential for people in Japan, although visitors may be left baffled as to how to use them. They have dozens of functionalities.

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Japanese toilets make the bathroom experience a high tech luxury

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Ancient Greek Statues Were Not White

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The Bronx, 1973: A new subculture is emerging and spreading all over New York: Graffiti.

The Rise of Graffiti Writing – From New York To Europe (1/10)

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The bicycle is a masterpiece: its poetic shape and mechanics have inspired artists for generations.

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Following in the footsteps of America’s great songwriter. In 1961 Bob Dylan left his native Minnesota for New York’s Greenwich Village where digs were cheap and opportunities to perform plentiful.

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In 1961 Bob Dylan left his native Minnesota for New York’s Greenwich Village and became part of the scene.

Bob Dylan's America (1/5)

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From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life. Street-photography captured Parisians from all walks of life and conveyed the optimism and elegance of the period.

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Paris in the Belle Epoque

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The Franco-German partnership is considered to be the main driving force behind European policy. What image do the people on the streets of Paris have of Merkel? How will French people remember her?

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As Merkel retires, we ask French people what they'll remember by

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Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents. With the city authorities considering measures to push sex workers out of the area, does this spell the end for the historic trade in the city centre?

Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents.

Re: Mass Tourism in Amsterdam's Red Light District

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GEO Reportage

In southern Thailand, the Koh Panyee village sits on stilts and even has a floating football field

Thailand's Football Mad Island

The 16th Reeperbahn Festival is once again the hub of the international music scene. Live from St Pauli, Hamburg, we bring you the best of new music.

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For weeks Lebanon has been paralysed by a fuel crisis that is stretching society to the limit. A lack of gas and petrol means drivers queue for hours to fill up and electricity plants can only provide electricity for a few hours a day.

For weeks Lebanon has been paralysed by a fuel crisis that is stretching society to the limit. 

Lebanon: Fuel Wars

There are an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and in the 20th century, 437 of them erupted in places like the United States, Russia, Indonesia and Japan. Both a blessing and a curse, they have shaped our world on land and at the sea.

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A World of Volcanoes

Many thought that the Chancellor's approach towards Greece during the European financial crisis was harsh. But how will the people of Athens remember her? Our journalists Nadia Blétry and Eric De Lavarenne interviewed them to find out.

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Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than him. German photographer Daniel Josefsohn, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, made his mark in advertising with his irreverent aesthetic and punk sensibility. It was his spontaneous, imperfect images shot for an MTV campaign in 1994 that first made him famous.

Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than than German photographer Daniel Josefsohn.

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Internationally Frau Merkel is a respected and powerful leader. But what do residents of the German capital think of her as she leaves office after 16 years?

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