{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1574493"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1574493/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1574493","accessionNumber":"CD.8:1 to 6-2020","objectType":"Merdacotta Tile","titles":[{"title":"Tiles made from cow dung and terracotta","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"These tiles are made from fired cow manure and terracotta, hence the name \"merda\", Italian for shit, and \"cotta\", or baked. The tiles address impending environmental issues and exemplify innovation in green design by using (literal) waste material to create new products. \r\n \r\nThe Shit Museum was founded in 2015 by Gianantonio Locatelli, a farmer, and Luca Cipelletti, an architect, on the site of Locatelli's dairy farm in Castelbosco in the province of Piacenza. Each day, Locatelli's cows produce approximately 100,000kg of dung, and Locatelli was inspired to find a way to take advantage of this excess and transform it into an ecological project. [see references]  \r\n \r\nTo create Merdacotta, cow manure is stored in a large, oxygen-free vat where methane, the polluting substance from dung, is removed and used as liquid fertilizer. What is leftover is a dry material that becomes both fertilizer and the base material for merdacotta. [see references] This base dung material is then blended with straw and high-quality clay sourced from Tuscany. Placed into moulds, the mixture is then baked at 1000 degrees Celsius and the straw burns away, creating small holes that imitate the texture of pre-industrialised terracotta. [see references] As a result, the tiles are a contemporary reproduction of classic Tuscan terracotta tiles. [see references]\n\r\nIt's suggested that the tiles be used for floorings, interior or exterior walls, or as small tabletop objects, such as coasters. [see references] The tiles make up one component of the \"Primordial Products\" series, which also includes tableware, flowerpots, and vases. The Shit Museum's Primordial Products were exhibited at the 2016 Salone del Mobile and won first prize in the Milano Design Awards. [see references]  \r\n \r\nMerdacotta fits into a larger narrative of finding innovative ways to work with farm waste. Agriculture is globally the highest source of methane emissions--a single cow can emit 145 kilograms of methane per year. In recognition of its ecological impact, there have been calls for more sustainable solutions concerning manure management. [see references] Although currently created in small batches, making the tiles unaffordable at large scales, Merdacotta is a glimpse into how farmers could build new branches of production around existing waste. It also hints at what kind of materials could be used in the future for sustainable mass production.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Square tiles, light tan or cream in colour. Each tile is unique with darker rust-coloured striations or marks.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Gianantonio Locatelli","id":"AUTH362075"},"association":{"text":"Designed by","id":"x40048"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Luca Cipelletti","id":"AUTH362076"},"association":{"text":"Designed by","id":"x40048"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Museo della Merda (The Shit Museum)","id":"AUTH362077"},"association":{"text":"Made by","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Dung","id":"AAT11804"},{"text":"Terracotta","id":"AAT10669"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Fired","id":"AAT53887"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Earthenware","id":"THES48964"},{"text":"Tiles","id":"THES48884"},{"text":"Sustainability","id":"THES285124"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DAD","id":"THES260586"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"76","id":"THES49548"},"free":"","case":"PL13","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"76","id":"THES49548"},"free":"","case":"PL13","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"76","id":"THES49548"},"free":"","case":"PL13","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"76","id":"THES49548"},"free":"","case":"PL13","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES402515"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES402515"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}],[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}],[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}],[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}],[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}],[{"text":"Tiles","id":"x40701"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2015/2016","earliest":"2015-01-01","latest":"2016-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":" Top arch of text reads MUSEO DELLA MERDA/ CASTELBOSCO - PIACENZA and bottom arch of text reads THE SHIT MUSEUM. In the centre is a logo of a sans-serif “M” with six legs and pinchers attached to the stems of the “M”, transforming it into a dung beetle. Underneath the logo reads ITALIA, and Est./2015 to the left and right of the logo. ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Exhibited in Food: Bigger Than The Plate, V&A, 18 May 2019 to 20 October 2019 ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Merdacotta tile designed by Gianantonio Locatelli and Luca Cipelletti and manufactured by the Museo della Merda (The Shit Museum)  \r\n\r\n","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"About Museo della Merde; The Shit Museum:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230211082444/https://www.theshitmuseum.org/about/"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Christine Smallwood, 29 August 2016, Cow Dung Goes High Design, The New York Times Magazine. January 2021:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230211082751/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/29/t-magazine/cow-poop-design-museum-castelbosco-farm.html?smid=pl-share"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Oli Stratford, 7 September 2016, Shit Mug, Disegno, January 2021:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230211082952/https://disegnojournal.com/article/shit-mug"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Products: Tiles, The Shit Museum:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230211083255/https://www.theshitmuseum.org/prodotti/tiles/"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"small batch","id":"THES252237"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Piacenza","id":"x37213"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"green design","id":"AAT180728"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Sustainability and Subversion\r\nDo I really want to step on that?\r\nTiles made from cow dung\r\nMerdacotta, 2016</b>\r\nDesigned by Gianantonio Locatelli and Luca Cipelletti,\r\nMade by Museo della Merda (The Shit Museum), Italy\r\nFired dung and terracotta\r\nMuseum no. CD.8:1 to 4-2020","date":{"text":"17/06/2021","earliest":"2021-06-17","latest":"2021-06-17"}}],"partNumbers":["CD.8:1-2020","CD.8:2-2020","CD.8:3-2020","CD.8:4-2020","CD.8:5-2020","CD.8:6-2020"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"CD","accessionYear":2020,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-03","recordCreationDate":"2021-02-01","availableToBook":false}}