Artist Wore 24 Diapers and Walked Into the Thames to Protest Sewage Pollution. Then, They Fell Sick
Art is a great way to deliver a message. But sometimes it may turn out to be a bit hazardous, and in one artist's case, 'smelly,' according to The Guardian. zack mennel (who prefers to write their name in lower case) is a performance artist who wore a costume made of 24 adult diapers. His objective was to bring attention to sewage pollution and the treatment of certain groups as a drain on society. The diapers were sewn together and swelled with water and waste as part of the performance. This performance was the final act of a project called (para)site.
The performance took a toll on the artist's health. They reportedly contracted Weil’s disease from rat urine. The artist sank into the Thames as part of their performance. During this process, a lot of waste, including the rat urine, made an entry into the costume. The situation became so dire that they couldn't even keep the costume after the performance because "the smell wasn’t healthy." The performance unfolded on the Deptford foreshore. The swollen diapers symbolize the enormous amount of sewage that has entered the waterways. Through the mutant costume, mennell wanted to put themselves in the position of criticized benefit claimants. mennell thought, “I’m going to be the parasite.”
In the performance, mennell highlighted the massive problem of environmental contamination, as well as the social treatment of welfare recipients as 'parasites,' according to Premiere Frame. By putting themselves in the role of the parasite, the artist questioned the language used to strip the dignity of vulnerable and marginalized communities. They placed them side by side with actual parasites. The costume transforms an everyday object associated with bodily waste into a medium of social critique. A personal function is aligned with systemic failure, making people face the reality of pollution and social stigma.
Weil's disease was not part of the performance and sheds light on the genuine danger posed by sewage pollution in waterways in the U.K. It has physically manifested the artist's message. The sewage can cause massive damage to communities and workers staying alongside polluted waterways. Complications from Weil's disease can put an individual's kidneys and liver into danger.
mennell apparently had a mental breakdown when they were attending university, according to The Guardian. They underwent psychiatric evaluations by the National Health Service (NHS). His evaluations were printed on rice paper, which was used in this final performance as they let the words dissolve into the water of the River Thames. In his opinion, these documents spoke “about me and never to me.” They couldn't keep the costume from the Thames because it was too smelly, but in another version of the performance, audiences were asked to read these documents to the artist, which was eventually meant to take the power away from certain words and phrases.
"There’s been a bit of anxiety about my behavior in performance being pathologized," mennell said. However, using these medical documents in their performance was "the only way I could change my relationship with this growing pile."
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