Quote:
Originally Posted by demonrail666
That's an interesting question I think, and reminds me of an article I recently read about a Gilbert & George exhibition which attacked Catholicism. The point of the article was that Catholicism is now a 'safe' topic and that therefore, artists who trade in shock by attacking it are themselves playing it safe. The Chapman's did the whole paedophilia thing, while Marcus Harvey broke the taboo of child murder in his Myra Hindley portrait. And yet the only stir that was really caused was among the chattering classes, most of whom condoned the works (in principle if not in terms of their actual quality.) Basically, the worst that can happen to an artist (in this country at least) who targets such topics is a scathing write up in the tabloids - inevitably met by an increase in publicity and prices for the work itself. Far more dangerous would be to target something like Islam which is likely to cause a far greater stir. I'm not condoning the idea of an artist attacking a religion simply for the sake of it, but if they're genuinely in the business of provocation, and if they really do think they're trangressing taboos, then I'd have far more respect for a band like Anal Cunt if they retitled, 'You Converted To Judaism, So A Guy Would Touch Your Dick' to something targeting Islam. Now that really would take some guts.
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I don't have the time for a longer reply right now, but I just wanted to ask you if you've read some of the essays about the way violence is portrayed in Sarah Kane's work. Also, did you read about the 'outrage' that play we have on at work at the moment (England People Very Nice) has caused? It's mainly to do with the language used in it, which, apparently, cast some doubts as to its non-racist credentials. It isn't a racist play, I've seen it three times and got it straight away.