That’s this year’s Christmas presents sorted then: chocolate butt plugs. Fun for all the family. Paul McCarthy has been scandalising an uncharacteristically prudish section of Paris with his giant green Tree sculpture recently, and now the American artist has opened up a reinstallation of Chocolate Factory – first seen in New York seven years ago – in the French capital to mark the reopening of the Monnaie de Paris. Cheeky confectionery treats on sale include a scaled-down edible version of his notorious sex toy.
Huge inflatable sculptures are the first stage of the visitor experience, before it moves through into the main hall of the mint and the factory proper. This is arranged in several sections like a film set whose cheap materials and temporary construction are juxtaposed with the hall’s elaborate splendour. A performance production line staffed by clone workers beavers away making batch after batch of seasonal Santa Claus figurines and Christmas trees, sold in the building’s bookstore. The repetition of form draws attention to the suggestive shapes, and with each day the operation grows in complexity, generating logistical problems and threatening its very ability to function. Production is scheduled to cease on 4 January 2015.
Paul McCarthy
Chocolaterie
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Gonflables
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Chocolaterie
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Pères Noël étagères
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Géant Père Noël
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Lits 2
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Chocolaterie
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Sapins en chocolat
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Chocolaterie
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Sapins en chocolat
Photo © Didier Plowy
Paul McCarthy
Chocolaterie
Photo © Didier Plowy
