Shock art

Shock art is contemporary art that incorporates disturbing imagery, sound or scents to create a shocking experience. While the art form's proponents argue that it is "embedded with social commentary" and most critics dismiss it as "cultural pollution", it is an increasingly marketable art, described by one art critic in 2001 as "the safest kind of art that an artist can go into the business of making today".[2][3] While shock art attracts curators and makes headlines, Reason magazine's 2007 review of The Art Newspaper suggested that traditional art shows continue to have more popular appeal.[4]

Contents

History

While the movement has become increasingly mainstream, the roots of shock art run deep into art history; Royal Academy curator Norman Rosenthal noted in the catalog for the "shock art" exhibit Sensation in 1997 that artists have always been in the business of conquering "territory that hitherto has been taboo".[2] In China, which experienced an active "shock art" movement following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989,[5] encroachment on the taboo has led the Ministry of Culture to attempt a crackdown on the artform,[6] banning the use of corpses or body parts in art.[7]

In 1998, John Windsor in The Independent said that the work of the Young British Artists seemed tame compared with that of the "shock art" of the 1970s, including "kinky outrages" at the Nicholas Treadwell Gallery, amongst which were a "hanging, anatomically detailed leather straitjacket, complete with genitals", titled Pink Crucifixion, by Mandy Havers.[8]

In the United States in 2008, a court case went to trial to determine whether the fetish films of Ira Isaacs constitute shock art, as the director claims, or unlawful obscenity.[9][10]

Select notable examples

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Owen, Richard. (June 12, 2007). The work of art that didn't do what it said on the tin The Times (London). Accessed October 31, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Silberman, Vanessa. (March 2001) Inside shock art. Art Business News Accessed October 31, 2007.
  3. ^ Sawhill, Ray. (October 12, 2000). Art for politics' sake. Salon. Accessed October 31, 2007.
  4. ^ Miller, Cheryl. {January 2007) Crying censorship. Reason Accessed October 31, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Pearlman, Ellen. Zhang Huan altered states. The Brooklyn Rail. Accessed October 31, 2007.
  6. ^ Baby-eating art show sparks upset. BBC. (January 3, 2003). Accessed October 31, 2007.
  7. ^ Pomfret, John (July 31, 2001). "Shock artists take freedom to new lows". The Washington Post: pp. Style 
  8. ^ Windsor, John. "Art 98: Collecting—Let the love affair begin", The Independent, 17 January 1998. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  9. ^ "'Shock Art' or Porn?". National Public Radio. 2008-06-10. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91356782. Retrieved 2008-12-07. 
  10. ^ AP (2008-06-13). "'Shock art' trial stalled by porn report on judge". Times of India. Associated Press. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/USA/Shock_art_trial_stalled_by_porn_report_on_judge/rssarticleshow/3124469.cms. Retrieved 2008-12-07. 
  11. ^ World's best art piece? A urinal CNN. (December 2, 2004). Accessed October 31, 2007.
  12. ^ Peter Selz, Helnwein, the Artist as Provocateur, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, 1996
  13. ^ Scott Timberg, Gottfried Helnwein arouses creative tumult, , Los Angeles Times, 18. June 2005
  14. ^ Julia Pascal, Nazi Dreaming, New Statesman, UK, 10 April 2006,
  15. ^ Gwen F. Chanzit, Denver Art Museum, "Radar, Selections from the Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan", 2006
  16. ^ Mahoney, Jeff (1 October 1999). "The 20th Century Has Seen Plenty of Examples of Shock Art". The Spectator: p. A.12. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/446884341.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+01%2C+1999&author=JEFF+MAHONEY%2C+THE+SPECTATOR&pub=The+Spectator&desc=THE+20TH+CENTURY+HAS+SEEN+PLENTY+OF+EXAMPLES+OF+SHOCK+ART&pqatl=google. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
  17. ^ Walsh, Erica. "Museums and Culture: the Brooklyn Museum". travelchannel.com. http://www.travelchannel.com/Travel_Ideas/Museums_and_Culture/ci.The_Brooklyn_Museum.artTravelIdeasFmt?vgnextfmt=artTravelIdeasFmt. Retrieved 7 December 2008. 
  18. ^ Robinson, Hilary (2001). Feminism-art-theory: An Anthology, 1968-2000. Blackwell Publishing. p. 536. ISBN 063120850X. http://books.google.com/?id=FHyyliXwGl0C&pg=PA536&lpg=PA536&dq=%22dinner+party%22+vulva. 
  19. ^ a b Babich, Babette E. (2006). Words in blood, like flowers: philosophy and poetry, music and eros in Hölderlin, Nietzsche, and Heidegger. SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy. SUNY Press. p. 202. ISBN 0791468356. 
  20. ^ Alberge, Dalya (April 10, 2003). "Traditionalists mount shark attack on Hirst", The Times: London. Accessed June 3, 2010.
  21. ^ "Beyond Shock Value". Newsweek. 9 November 2003. http://www.newsweek.com/2003/11/09/beyond-shock-value.html. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
  22. ^ Zinsmeister, Karl. When art becomes inhuman. The American Enterprise, a magazine of Politics, Business, and Culture. Hosted with permission at Art Renewal Center. Retrieved from the Internet Archive, June 3, 2010.
  23. ^ Field, Corinne (3 October 2003). "Jake & Dinos Chapman - A Retrospective At The Saatchi Gallery". Culture 24. http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art18306. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
  24. ^ "Shock Art Hits London". BBC. 23 September 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/938731.stm. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
  25. ^ "Mark McGowan to re-enact the death of Raoul Moat". spoonfed. 20 August 2010. http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/spoonfed-arts-team-8139/mark-mcgowan-to-re-enact-the-death-of-raoul-moat-3606/. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
  26. ^ "Art that Shocks". cbc.ca. 3 December 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/culture-society/. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 

External links