A Luxury Product Made From Human Feces

In 1961, artist Piero Manzoni sold 90 small tin cans labeled as his own excrement. He priced them according to the current market rate for gold, mocking the pretension of the art world.

Manzoni created this work as a satirical statement on how artists can turn anything into a valuable commodity through their reputation alone. The cans are sealed tight, meaning the contents have never been officially verified by a third party. Because collectors value the concept over the physical item, these tins now sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. It remains one of the most provocative and successful performance art pieces in history.