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Solomon Toilet

On the closing weekend of the exhibition (24 February 2007) Vic and Sarah continued their renegade action by returning to the MCA and replacing one of the Pompidou videos with the video above. It lasted three and a half hours before the staff returned the original artwork.

 

 

The notion of taking a recording from the bible of The Song of Solomon, read in such a seemingly innocent voice, and placing it within the confines of a toilet cubicle, poses many questions.

It questions traditional ideas of love, placing them in a context beyond the boundaries of what to some have become, archaic notions of fidelity, the family unit, a sense of love for ones self and a sense of love for another.

This installation does not exist to criticize ideas of traditional love, instead, it exists to highlight that the same notions can exist in ways, both subtle and extreme, beyond those which were previously intended or expected and to examine some of the unclear ideas offered in The Song of Solomon

It celebrates the fact that the world is a many faceted always changing organism, and that embracing its many different qualities, ideas, beliefs and the many varied manifestations of these, creates a beautiful picture indeed.

Different view points exist all around us:

Solomon Toilet is not an installation for people to seek out. It exists within a space utilised by people during their day to day business and highlights ideas which are all around us in our day to day lives.

Solomon Toilet was born when Sarah Moor read for Vic McEwan’s Bible project.
After Sarah gave a moving reading of the Solomon chapter from the Bible, the pair giggled and giggled over the words in this chapter.


The thought of installing Solomon’s in the toilet as a sound piece was developed this fateful night; the beautiful marriage between God and Shit forever bound to grace this fine Earth.

 

Vic took the installation to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in July 2006. It was installed in the Edinburgh College of The Arts toilets for two weeks, until it was deemed an OH&S hazard by the art school due to the speakers and cables in the cubicles.

“What if someone bites through the power cable and dies?” they said.
“Well,  then maybe it is their time to go. Let’s just leave it in the hands of God.” replied Vic.

 

It was later installed at The Cad Factory on 20 October 2006. It survived a heavy night of toilet use and was not damaged by any drunken misdirection. It was consequently not deemed an OH&S hazard by the powers that be at The Cad Factory.

The Solomon Toilet project continued to be installed in all the finest of establishments, with or without their permission. The highlight of the Solomon Toilet project was the renegade installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Picture the scene… The opening of the Centre Pompidou Video Art 1965-2005. A mild Wednesday evening on 12 December 2006. An unsuspecting, high falutin’ public gathering calmly at the MCA to enjoy the free wine and a preview of the Centre Pompidou exhibition. Little did anyone realise a Solomon Toilet was about to be unleashed in the ground floor toilets.
During the speeches Vic and Sarah installed Solomon Toilet, while Darrin filmed the process.

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