Wim Delvoye: Towering Ambition

PL: Where is the work being fabricated?

WD: The tower is being fabricated in Belgium, but the pinnacles are being made in China. It’s the first time I’ve worked with Chinese craftsmen on the steel sculptures. I’m not convinced of their skills, but I’m willing to risk it with the pinnacles. Oftentimes when I’m doing a commission for people, they say I should make it in China, but that’s just a polite way of saying, “We don’t want to pay the amount you’re asking.” In other words, we want a lot from you, but we don’t have the budget. They really overestimate the savings from having something manufactured in China. The savings are actually small in comparison to the risk of delegating the work to fabricators so far from the studio.

It’s difficult to do things in Venice. A lot of things can go wrong. A lot of people are involved. We have to assemble the tower in a studio. It has to be transported and cranes need to be on-site to move it off the boat. By the time the show opens the economy will probably be worse. Yet in the midst of this depressive situation, it’s good to show your muscles, to put your money back into the work and make it better than anything you’ve previously done.

PL: What actually led you to the idea of a tower?

WD: I was looking for something a bit more difficult than the “Cloaca” series [2000-09]. From day one, I decided to pay for but never sell the Cloaca machines. It’s been very difficult. We have nine different machines. The ninth is only just finished. It’s the Cloaca Travel Kit. If I combine my collection of shit machines and my “Gothic Works”—including the stained-glass windows, and the laser-cut steel Caterpillars [2001-02], Dump Truck [2006], Cement Trucks [1990-99, 2008]and Flat Bed Trailer [2007]—with the idea of a Gothic cathedral, of which the tower is the essence, I can eventually create a proposal for my ideal cathedral. What will I put in this cathedral? Well, I need a place for these things, and I’m not planning to sell my shit machines. Why would I when I can just sell the shit? It would be like selling the goose that lays the golden eggs.

PL: Who would be willing to build a cathedral to house these works or, for that matter, your stuffed tattooed pigs [1997-ongoing], which seem well suited for such a space?

WD: I’ve been talking to collectors about this considerable project for several years, but if no one steps up to support it, I’m willing to finance it myself. That’s one of the reasons why I recently bought a 17th-century castle with a grand property in Kwatrecht, some 15 minutes from my studio.

PL: What will become of the tower after Venice?

WD: Next year we will show it at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where we will add two or three levels at the base. A year later, it will go to the Louvre, and again we’ll add another two or three levels. Each time the tower will continue to grow and eventually it may end up in the realm of the castle.

PL: Will there be a catalogue for those of us who cannot afford to travel to Venice or visit castles?

WD: Instead of a normal catalogue, we’re producing a large-format coloring book of my Gothic works and Cloaca works—everything that has been done on the computer. The left page will show you how you should color the image and the right page is ready to color. We are also producing a box of colored pencils with Faber-Castell to accompany the catalogue. The store at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is nearly as large as the museum, which is very American, and the products are more varied than the museum’s collection. We’ll also play on the idea of merchandising with T-shirts and plastic shopping bags with heroic images of the tower.

PL: And the castle, what are you going to do with it?

WD: There’s lots of stuff on my list, but there is no time pressure. I want to build up a collection, distributed throughout the property, including my work as well as the work of other artists. One of the first planned projects is an exhibition of birdhouses designed by a group of international architects. A birdhouse is easier than a skyscraper, but it still reflects the nature of architecture.

I also envision the property as a repository for my dreams. In the midst of the open meadow, I could do something grand, such as a full-scale tower or a cathedral. In the end, the cost of the land will be offset by the success of the projects.

[Currently On View: Wim Delvoye’s Torre at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, June 3-Nov. 22.]

PAUL LASTER is aNew York-based artist, writer and independent curator