VIOLENCE AND ART IN THE MEDIA AGE

Trauma Art

A Thousand Years” (detail), 1990 Steel, glass, flies, maggots, MDF, insect-o-cutor, cow’s head, sugar, water - Gagosian Gallery.

…culture is not found in people’s heads but in the public symbols used to communicate the worldview of a society to its members and future generations.

For the Love of God - Damien Hirst - 2007For the Love of God - Damien Hirst - 2007

Jeweled skulls from the Aztec culture.

…across cultures and times, people subconsciously consider the skull the home of humanity.

It is where our words come from and our emotions are shown.

For the Love of God - 2007 is a sculpture by Damien Hirst. It consists of a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead.

What is the meaning of this piece?

Is it a modern example of Vanitas?

Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne 1623

Vanitas refers to symbolic painting associated with Northern European still life.

The images refer to the shortness of human life and the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures.

Pieter Claesz1598

‘Vanitas vanitatum, et omnio vanitas’ ‘Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity’

Jerome WitkinButcher's Helper, Buchenwald (1941-45)

1991-92

We recognize the presence of culture more and more through images of violence.

Bullet Hole, Matt Collishaw - a large-scale photograph taken from a pathology textbook of a gruesome ice-pick wound in the back of a man’s head.

Trauma art---shocking in its display of wounded bodies and traumatized flesh.

Self, Marc Quinn- 1991blood, stainless steel, refrigeration equip.

…“trauma art” has overtaken

the contemporary art world, as well as the wider media representation of cultural

events.

Violence now becomes a signifier of aesthetic culture.

Joel-Peter Witkin – Woman Who Once Was a Bird

“Trauma art” poses a radical challenge to conventional modes of aesthetics.

It is at once impersonal and painful.

A Thousand YearsA Thousand Years 1990 Steel, glass, flies, maggots, MDF, insect-o-cutor, cow’s head, sugar,

water - Gagosian Gallery.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone LivingThe Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

What are you thinking about standing in front of the open mouth of a Great White?

..Or contemplating the 1000s of dead butterflies used to create I am Become Death, D. Hirst – Painting using thousands of butterfly wings 17’ x 7’

Or ….Sacred with Hope

Damien HirstDamien HirstAnimal heart with dagger and feathers

Death of Sardanapalus - Eugène Delacroix

We are no longer pleased by traditional art works that contain violence in an aesthetic frame…

Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down), Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas- glamorizing violence, corrupting gamers, and connection to real life crimes.

We are attracted to art forms and entertainment that make fathoming the distinction between real and artificial violence an urgent but baffling task.

The Jerry Springer Show

More and more the actual delivery format demands action and is perfect for real or staged violence.

Reality TV…

Andy Warhol’s Death and Disaster Series - 1983 Car Crash

Car chases and Crashes…

Car Crash, Andy Warhol - 1963

Crime and PunishmentAndy Warhol “Little Electric Chair, 1964-1965″

Old Sparky,

Sing-Sing Prison

Police brutality…above, Rodney King beatingright, Alex Donis, War 2001

Natural DisasterEarthquake - Tsunami Japan, 2011

There is no perceivable distinction between the thrill and terror felt before artificial forms of violence, and what is felt before the media reportage of biological disasters, terrorist bombings, ethnic conflicts, and natural disasters.

In many media situations, there is no context in which the differences between artificial and real violence might be understood.

Joel Peter Witkin

Witkin “celebrates” our violent Witkin “celebrates” our violent history while constantly history while constantly redefining its present day redefining its present day context. Witkin explains, context. Witkin explains,

"In this most violent and visually wallpapered age,

I have chosen to evoke the darkness rather than the light…"

“I wanted my photographs to be as powerful as the last thing a person sees or remembers before death.”

Witkin - Vanitas ?

“…we recognize the presence of culture more and more via images of violence.” Our “cultural touchstones” are often violent events.

9/11 – Do you remember where you were that day?

JFK Assassination 1963(most of you are probably too young to remember many of the following events, older people certainly do.)

The Viet Nam WarThe Viet Nam War1955 - 1975

Viet Nam War

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, 1968

The Assassination of Robert Kennedy, 1968

1968 Democratic National Convention Protest Activity

Kent State Massacre

1970

The Kent State - the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970.

The guardsmen fired 67 rounds, killing four students and wounding nine others.

World Trade Center Bombing 1993

Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building- 1995

Iraq ConflictsIraq Conflicts1992and2003

The torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners at

Abu Ghraib prison - 2004

The Virginia Tech Massacre - 2007

Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. The massacre is the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, on or off a school campus.

“Trauma art pushes one step further by insisting that violence is increasingly readable as a signifier not only of culture but of aesthetic culture.”

The Return to Ritual: Violence and The Return to Ritual: Violence and Art in the Media Age, Tobin Art in the Media Age, Tobin SiebersSiebers

If the previous statement is true---Is there anyway we can differentiate our experience, reaction and understanding between real and staged violence?…Now explain it to a 7 year old….

There is no context in which the differences between artificial and real violence might be understood…

Extra Credit

Respond to the topic of Trauma Art.

I am particularly interested in your reaction to the premise that violence has become an important aesthetic signifier for our culture AND if it is difficult to differentiate between the experience of real and staged violence what can we do to become more aware of that fine line?