Art Info

Armitage Shanks,
Nick Knight, Lady Gaga, 2010

Vitreous China

26.18 x 15.74 x 12.59 in

66.49 x 39.97 x 31.97 cm

Minutes before SHOWstudio.com Shop opened its doors for the private view of Inside/Out the ineffable Lady Gaga delivered an unexpected surprise: a strategically-placed urinal. Laying on its side and rendered impotent, this twenty-first century ready-made - appropriately titled Armitage Shanks - shows all the imaginable traces of her physical presence. Scrawled across the back of the china bowl is the aphorism 'I’m not fucking Duchamp but I love pissing with you', directly referencing one of the most influential modern artworks, Duchamp's infamous Fountain. But both the written message and the act of 'marking' the urinal with traces of one's own self work away from a stern gesture into a playful acknowledgement of Duchamp’s enduring, impervious influence. The urinal itself was part of an iconic Nick Knight shoot with Lady Gaga for Vogue Homme Japan.