Deadly Arts 2021
Deadly Arts: An ominously dense deluge of debate hangs heavy in the atmosphere of the art community. Gregor Schneider, a German artist, decided that his next piece of art will be similar to the execution of a criminal. The only difference is that there will be no execution and there will be no criminal, just death and just art.
Currently, he’s seeking already-dying volunteers to lay in an art gallery, alone, in view of uneasily curious onlookers who anticipate nothing more than for the subject to take his or her last breath, so Schneider can simply capture what he calls, “the beauty in death.”
Controversy arises when critics and art lovers mutually suggest that the German artist is doing nothing more then making a mockery of death. “He’s just turning it into a carnival act,” says an online blogger in agreement with numerous opinions spanning the globe. A more open-minded blogger, on the other hand, suggested that, “Now that the world has abortion and death as art, it’s funny how [artists] never seem to bring life into the world as art [anymore].” All of the taboo surrounding Schneider may be unwarranted when other artists, Schneider’s predecessors, did things so taboo as to remove their own ears.
Schneider’s perceived preoccupation with death is so great that once upon a time, (in the year 2000); Schneider even pretended to be dead as part of his own exhibition. In that case, I suppose his newest artistic endeavor could be considered the next logical step in the evolution of his art. Schneider is 39 years old and has consistently furthered his development of death as art since, at least, 1996, when he claims his newest undertaking hatched in his mind. He raised that deadly muse for 12 years. He did this first by making a different controversial piece of art, a sculpture of a dead woman entitled: Hannelore Reuen. Schneider is not alone in his recognition of death as art, however, as even more artists, such as Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, also look to the dying for artistic inspiration.
Guillermo, another controversial artist, removed a starving dog from the streets and showcased the unfed animal at an art exhibition in 2007. Connoisseurs of art very pristinely observed the animal from a distance and occasionally remarked on it before continuing their analysis of art at the exhibition. Guillermo claims that the people who see the dog and continue to walk-off are a direct reflection of people in the street who also see starving dogs and continue walking; he claims that other than his exhibition, nobody would have ever even recognized that dog’s existence. The dogs name is Natividad. There are countless reports that Natividad died of starvation; now there is a petition circulating the web, attempting to ban such art. However warranted the movement may be, it is unproven that Natividad actually died and that, unfortunately, is merely speculation and public belief. Guillermo was invited to recreate his art at the Biennial of 2008, in Honduras, with a different dog, however.
Art is art, whether it is controversial or not. If you had a sculpture of a dead-woman in your home or simply a painting of a dying man in your home, visitors will observe it and talk about it, because it is art. If people choose not to accept death as art, they don’t have to look, speak or acknowledge it in any way. If they do accept death as part of life and as part of art, then they perhaps they might find some little pleasure in viewing morbid works of art. I do know one thing, good art provokes thought, and art like Schneider’s and Vargas’ can provoke enough thought for people, to perhaps, accept death as a part of their everyday, and maybe even save a dog or two. Some thinkers could say that the recreation of death is good enough for art, and they may or may not be correct.
Category: Contemporary Art
