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| Shoot the Works: Unwelcome participation in non-participatory art Abram Balashev, Cecilia Gimenez, IOCOSE, Paul Kelleher, Leeds United, Keith MacIsaac, Eva and Franco Mattes, Mary Richardson, Tony Shafrazi, The Weathermen Organised by Chris Newlove Horton 29/03/13 – 18/04/13    Skulptur Projekte Münster 07 Keith MacIsaac, 2007 Joyride with Michael Asher's Installation Muenster (Caravan), 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007  Sunflower Seeds on Sunflower Seeds IOCOSE, 2011 Real sunflower seeds shot onto Ai Wiewei's Sunflower Seeds, 2010  Stolen Pieces Eva and Franco Mattes, 1995–1997 Small elements stolen from artworks by Jeff Koons, Richard Long, Andy Warhol, and others  Mid-Atlantic and Adrift Leeds United, 1997 and 2012 Artwork censored by Frieze Magazine; and re-censored copy of Frieze Magazine  Thinker Rodin, 1881 Bombed by The Weathermen, 1970  Ecce Homo Elias Garcia, c.1930 Attempted restoration by Cecilia Giménez, 2012  Margaret Thatcher Neil Simmons, 1998 Decapitated with cricket bat by Paul Kelleher, 2002  Rokeby Venus Diego Valázquez, 1651 Attacked by knife by Mary Richardson, 1914  Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan Ilya Repin, 1581 Attacked with knife by Abram Balashov, 1913 Once an avant-practice, participatory art has now been canonised and colonised by the wider art world apparatus. It's in and on the books, a viable option, one of many no-longer-alternative approaches. But what of the actions that go beyond the set rules and measures, the actions that go unnoticed or unrecorded, disregarded or ignored, whose agents are demonised or written off as mad; the artists and vandals who snub the land of letters to act out their criticality in the world of actions and objects, the world of conviction and consequence? Combining recent art works and historical examples, Shoot the Works sheds light on a near-hidden corner of culture, an insalubrious sector often dismissed and disparaged by the powers that be: the vandalism and intentional damage of works of art by independent citizens, be they artists or civilians. The exhibition is not an attempt to somehow legitimise or validate these events - it aims, instead, to begin a conversation. All these events occurred in the public realm, so there is a democratic responsibility to open them to public scrutiny or, at least, scrutinise them in public. With evidence comes examination and critical evaluation, private readings and public hearings, disagreement or accord. With fewer secrets we can talk more, and that can only be a good thing. |
