As I was watching some of the “Art,” I began to feel as though it is being used as a shock factor more than Art its self. For me, I do not view a starving dog tied to a wall as art, if you want to get the point across of starvation than show a photograph of the dog, not the fact that nothing has been done to correct the situation, to me this is cruelty. I realize the world is a cruel place in which to live at times and that starving animals and humans are a fact of everyday life, but to put an animal in that environment after suffering is no better than the ones who allowed them to suffer in the first place.
Guillermo Vargas Jiménez, also known as Habacuc, exhibited an emaciated dog in a gallery in Nicaragua in 2007
I have always had an issue understanding and accepting most performance art, but when you shoot yourself and can find no better way to express your idea than violence what are you really saying about yourself. The act of harming another, making money from harming someone else, and calling it art to me turns art into a gimmick. I am NOT even getting started on art made from one’s menstrual cycle “sad” is all I can say.
Portland-based artist Sarah Levy uses her menstrual blood and a tampon to paint a portrait of Donald Trump in protest at the presidential candidate’s comments.
This idea of shock art to me comes across mostly as propaganda, a way to get your 15mins of notoriety, no better than the way most mass media acts today. I will say that Piero Manzoni’s piece, Artist Sh*t” is rather funny, I mean if someone is going to buy that than, hmmm.
Piero Manzoni – Artist Sh*t, 1961