This piece is entirely satirical. Read the rest of our April Fool’s edition, the Trinibonian, here.
If you’ve ever used the second floor bathroom of the Jim and Janet Dicke Art Building, you’ve probably smelled senior art history and art studio major Shartnel Scheisse’s works of art. Using his own feces, Scheisse creates massive murals that portray major grievances about student life at Trinity.
This critique will be the focus of his senior show at the Michael and Noémi Neidorff Art Gallery, “Toward a Theory of (Bowel) Movement.” The show will open on April 1.
Frank Flatulence, sophomore computer science and political science double-major and flutist, will provide ambient music composed by himself. To be more on theme, he will be playing a different wind instrument. With Scheisse’s portraits and Flatulence’s wind, the pair aims to strengthen community bonds between artists and the Trinity campus.
Although artists have created poop art before, most notably by Austrian artist Günter Brus, Scheisse doesn’t excrete purely for shock value. Instead, he turns his unique medium into a metaphor for how many students feel about the ongoing affairs at Trinity, from grading standards to Mabee food quality.
“Inspiration hit after a quick 12-pack of burritos from El Burro, when I was sitting, scrolling on Jizz, noticing how rough student life can be,” Scheisse said. “I really was feeling like what I was excreting.”
Scheisse reached down in the bowl to unleash his anger and turn that negative emotion into something more productive. This subversive medium has generated buzz beyond just flies. Many students feel seen and understood after the initial shock of the smell and image of poo smeared on a Coates Student Center bathroom wall.
“On more than one occasion, people have walked up to me after a showing, and they asked how I do what I do, and I explained [that] I’m just channeling what I believe,” Scheisse said. “I believe that walking up and down Cardiac Hill is shit, that the excruciatingly thin walls are shit, professors giving homework over the break is shit. And I know that many people will agree.”
Already, students are abuzz about Scheisse’s informal exhibits across campus. He anticipates that the exhibit will only amplify his message, and prove that Trinity isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty when it comes to student speech freedoms.
Sheisse hopes that many people come to see his work at the Neidorff next week, and will feel represented in the exhibit. He also recommends bringing face masks or smelling salts, as the impact of his works tends to be overwhelming.
