Word: shockingly
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Shock tactics in the name of art are nothing new, whether it’s excrement smeared on the Virgin Many (Chris Ofili), crucifixes submerged in urine (Andres Serrano), or Danish artist Marco Evaristti exhibiting live goldfish in functional blenders (several of which were liquidated by exhibition visitors before they were disconnected from the wall). The increasingly common problem, however, is that they no longer really inspire shock, merely a curled lip of disgust, a bemused head-shake, or a shrug—it’s all wearing a bit thin...
...recently, shock-art has had a little extra spice added. In their thirst for authenticity, artists are increasingly trying to bring real acts of cruelty and horror into the art gallery—Shvarts’ miscarriage extravaganza is just one example. In Nicaragua, Costa Rican artist Guillermo Habacuc Vargas found himself a stray dog, tied it up in the corner without food or water, and let visitors watch it die (though there remains speculation over whether the dog was removed before it actually expired...
...course, the notion of discourse inspired by art isn’t, in itself, shallow or boring. There is a long and venerable tradition of using shock to stir the art-appreciator’s conscience. Surrealist shock-art sought to tear open the subconscious, politicizing the personal realm of Oedipal complexes and bourgeois sexuality. And not all controversial modern ideas are petty and narcissistic. German artist Gregor Schnedier was recently pilloried for trying to bring real death into an art gallery; he has constructed a room for dying and has offered it to anyone who wants...
...taboo and shock by artists like Luis Buñel, Max Ernst, and Schneider is justifiable because they have more formulated ideas behind their art than platitudes about “discourse.” They sought, or seek, substantive change. The frustration with cruder attempts is that behind the lip service to “debate,” one senses that there is little of meaning or substance. Instead, these displays are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the lurid tabloid spreads of Amy Winehouse’s personal decay or Britney’s tiresome new pregnancy. Where?...
...audience already agrees that we should tolerate gay sex, alternative sexual choices, or recreational sex in general. If they don’t, then the prospect of her gruesome project is unlikely to be what changes their minds.In crafting her project, our new favorite Yalie was capitalizing on shock value in order to put forth a very basic conception of sex politics—that we should not conflate gender and sexuality. But to merely abandon the mainstream medium is not a guarantee virtue. Alas, Shvarts should have been dismissed as an attention-seeking ninny, but instead she was launched...