gross anatomy

July 1, 2005 1:14 AM

The artist swallowed a pill-sized camera that photographically auto-documented its journey through his body, taking 65,000 photographs in seven and a half hours. (Alternate link, scroll horizontally.)
posted by crunchland (39 comments total)

more info
posted by crunchland at 1:17 AM on July 1, 2005

That was CRAP!

(sorry, I had to)
posted by SharQ at 1:26 AM on July 1, 2005

Interesting how it all looks the same in there, pink and folded, except for the digestive juices and of course.... the poo.
posted by Parannoyed at 1:33 AM on July 1, 2005

If you scroll fast it looks like Commander Bowman's psychedelic journey at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

My God . . . it's full of turds!
posted by fandango_matt at 2:30 AM on July 1, 2005

Is there a web video?
posted by five fresh fish at 2:42 AM on July 1, 2005

OH MYN IS THET TEH POO
posted by Dean Keaton at 3:04 AM on July 1, 2005

Hmmm... Pretty on the inside?
posted by psmealey at 3:09 AM on July 1, 2005

Thanks crunchland. Actually, I guessed the outcome. But for the rest of you who have not yet clicked:

SPOILER ALERT! The following video sequence reveals how it ends.
posted by hal9k at 3:41 AM on July 1, 2005

Those last couple feet are ick.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:46 AM on July 1, 2005

It would have been better if it had ended in daylight, like a train popping out of a tunnel.
posted by biffa at 4:10 AM on July 1, 2005

This is the first time in a long, long time that something prompted me to think: "This is art?" Using a pill-camera is a not-uncommon medical procedure to look for GERD and the like. If I get a CAT scan and frame it, does that make it art?
posted by Plutor at 5:35 AM on July 1, 2005

It's art. Has it illicited a reaction from the observer? Does it promote thought? Do you have the right to question art? Do I have the right to question you? Also, we don't know the context in which he swallowed that pill (at least from the FPP links).
posted by splatta at 5:49 AM on July 1, 2005

1) Gak.
2) Didn't anybody else see Fantastic Voyage?!
posted by Space Kitty at 5:53 AM on July 1, 2005

Yes, Splatta, maybe he swallowed it during a performance.
posted by taursir at 5:54 AM on July 1, 2005

"Welcome... To this horse's anus."
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:41 AM on July 1, 2005

We are oddly beautiful, inside.
posted by sperare at 6:41 AM on July 1, 2005

Whoa, what a bad ending!
posted by furtive at 6:57 AM on July 1, 2005

Inside out!
posted by webmeta at 7:11 AM on July 1, 2005

That was the scariest thing I have ever seen.

If that was my digestive tract, I'd be freaking out right now. Is it normal to have powdered sugar and mustard just sitting around in your intestines?
posted by BobFrapples at 7:19 AM on July 1, 2005

A great adventure is waiting for you ahead.
Hurry onward Paris Hilton or you will soon be dead.
The road ahead is filled with danger and fright
But push onward, Paris Hilton, with all of your might.
posted by ao4047 at 7:20 AM on July 1, 2005

Too bad it didn't show the very end, when the camera popped out and was immediately shoved and kicked by Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kenny Rogers.
posted by notmydesk at 7:23 AM on July 1, 2005

If Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kenny Rogers is hovering around someone's anus then we have a whole nother' issue.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:38 AM on July 1, 2005

O the poor foods that we eat!

Did anyone see the 'Human Floss' video on Kontraband.com? Where this one kid tied a plastic pen-cap to a long-ass string of floss, and he swallowed it and pooped it out... well, you know how it goes from there!
posted by mrhappysad at 7:42 AM on July 1, 2005

O the poor foods that we eat!

Did anyone see the 'Human Floss' video on Kontraband.com? Where this one kid tied a plastic pen-cap to a long-ass string of floss, and he swallowed it and pooped it out... well, you know how it goes from there!
posted by mrhappysad at 7:42 AM on July 1, 2005

Oops, I pooped twice.
posted by mrhappysad at 7:43 AM on July 1, 2005

Yes, Splatta, maybe he swallowed it during a performance.


No, he is making a film.

A 16mm documentary film loop, shot in the clinical context during the journey time, is switched on and off using the trigger of the artists mouth opening and closing.

Performed at MACRO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome - September 2004, Curated by Valentina Valentini.

Host is currently being developed with The Arts Catalyst and MIT (Boston) for a one-off performance in London during 2006.

posted by tkb at 8:01 AM on July 1, 2005

If I get a CAT scan and frame it, does that make it art?

Sure, but how much merit does it have?

If a car is rusted up on blocks, no-one says "I can't beleive anyone would claim that this is a car", you say "Wow, that's a really crappy car". Same deal with art. If the car sucks, say so, but trying to make out that it's somehow not actually a car is silly, no matter how useless the car is.

As for this pill cam art, I personally thought it was pretty cool :) The information has been presented in a very acessible way. That's not how images from these pills are normally used. (not that it matters) Plutor's link demonstrates the world of difference.
posted by -harlequin- at 8:26 AM on July 1, 2005

That's fucking brilliant. The art isn't that he swallowed a pill camera, but that he strung it together like that to, essentially, tell a story with pictures. I'm sure you could say, "Well, I could do that," but the thing is, he did it first.

How do they keep it in focus like that? Intense.
posted by fungible at 8:27 AM on July 1, 2005

Did anyone see the 'Human Floss' video on Kontraband.com? Where this one kid tied a plastic pen-cap to a long-ass string of floss, and he swallowed it and pooped it out... well, you know how it goes from there!
posted by mrhappysad at 7:42 AM PST on July 1 [!]

I'd heard of Buddhists doing this and saw it in the movie Crumb "...on a visit to Max, the youngest brother, we find him living as a monk, drawing a long linen tape through his body to clean his intestines" - Ebert Review from 1995

Can't find anything else referring to this practice. If anyone has more information on this... uh... nevermind. Just keep it to yourself.
posted by hal9k at 8:46 AM on July 1, 2005

I can't help but guiltily think that the final frame of this photo could possibly be the only justifiable use of the notorious goatse.cx image.
posted by crunchland at 10:38 AM on July 1, 2005

i just wish i could figure out what art really is so i can finally enjoy it
posted by Satapher at 11:27 AM on July 1, 2005

Plutor: that something prompted me to think: "This is art?"

Look at how the images are framed (top picture) in the installation. Really incredible.
posted by nobody at 11:33 AM on July 1, 2005

drawing a long linen tape through his body to clean his intestines

Doesn't the hero of 24 threaten to kill someone by feeding them a towel then pulling it back out and taking the stomach lining with it? Would you want to risk that? My intestines are self-cleaning anyway.
posted by biffa at 11:38 AM on July 1, 2005

I'm curious, why have it side scrolling? Wouldn't it be more logical to have it vertically scrolling. Its kind of neat and foamy and pink and sort of boring and I would have had a hard time not planting things in the pictures, like a washed out image of Rick Santorum close to the end and maybe a few polyps that look suspiciously like Shrub and his cronies.
posted by fenriq at 11:40 AM on July 1, 2005

I had no idea there was so much frothy green bile all the way through! And like the shot of his face at the beginning, I wanted there to be a shot of his ass over the toilet bowl at the end.
posted by Specklet at 12:00 PM on July 1, 2005

Ew?
posted by ancientgower at 12:39 PM on July 1, 2005

Wow, what an amazing series of images.
posted by nickyskye at 2:08 AM on July 2, 2005

I don't think you can floss yourself. It seems to me that friction would trump peristalsis before you were even half-way through.

I'm just waiting for some guy to set up a web store selling this as wallpaper border. With matching paints -- Trapped Gas Green and Mucosa Pink.
posted by Sallyfur at 6:09 AM on July 2, 2005

It is a shame it has to end on such a brown note, but very few of us shit roses.
posted by crunchland at 8:21 AM on July 2, 2005