Into the Bowl: Curating Toiletpaper Magazine

It all started with a grand idea. How could we merge a new, post COVID world with art and Stetson University? Answering this question had no clear answer, but we were steadfast in our pursuit. The most important piece was Elsewhere Studio, where the impossible turned possible. The space was cultivated and transformed into a playground for the craziest ideas and absurd imagery. Through all the tribulations of the curation process: original concepts, failures, environmental strife, and sweat induced labour (Queen’s English), we were able to bring the Toiletpaper magazine to this new world, and thus Shower Thoughts was born.

So why Maurizio Cattelan? Cattelan (b. 1960) pioneered a commercial empire while simultaneously maintaining his status as a brand name contemporary artist. Toiletpaper, once described as a “mental outburst” by co-creator Pierpaolo Ferrari, is the epitome of contemporary surrealism: eyes peeking out among the flowers, a skeleton without the meat on its bones, lips that speak different stories.

What is gathered before you is the process of presenting a surrealist wonderland and creative explosion. The imagery is tricky, uncomfortable for some (as the original visitors of the show confirmed), but curated to inspire conversations and bend what we have accepted to be true. Doing so required crafting a careful narrative, accompanied by text, reactions, images from the original exhibition and documentation of install.

We invite you to dive Into The Bowl.

Sponsored by the Lavalle Experimental Learning Fund