Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Art Attacks (or, when "swoons" go wrong)

For a long time I have been interested in provocative art--art that provokes viewers to action, that is.  Sometimes the action is far from a "swoon" incident; instead, people physically act out against works of art.  Here are links to a couple of interesting occurrences that have come to my attention, and these are but two of many other occurrences of art attacks out there:

Last summer in Paris, a woman attacked the Mona Lisa with a coffee mug:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6009693/Woman-attacks-Mona-Lisa.html

This summer in Denver, a woman broke through a plexiglass case with a crowbar to attack an "offensive" image: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16270946?source=email

Clearly, in addition to Stendhal's Syndrome, the swoon effect has indeed been documented, although perhaps like so many things in 21st century society, the negative responses get the most press. 

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