Destruction of creation
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and today, those eyes are not bare anymore. They strut around in Ray Ban glasses and false eyelashes. They may be rose-tinted with positivity or green-tinted with scepticism. They may see distortions where structured form exists or may bear the weight of ancient memories in their vision. The lens through which we view the world has assumed new levels of complication.
Let’s be honest — how many of us have wondered what two people in love have ever seen in each other? That tummy that threatens to bulge out of buttons and those hairy toes — how could she be blind to that? And the wicked laugh and arrogant eyes — how could he succumb to that? Yet, love stories exist beyond the realm of defined standards, don’t they? So, who decides what is good or what is ugly? Isn’t one man’s trash another man’s treasure?
This question has once again come to the fore with a recent incident in a gallery space in Kochi. At an ongoing curated exhibition, the work of French-Algerian artist Hanan Benammar was torn off the walls by a Kochi artist and his associate. Calling the works obscene, the act was live-streamed on social media. Well, times have changed, and acts of vandalism are rarely executed discreetly today. Instead, it is most often planned as a loud proclamation of protest that must go viral.
For the uninitiated, here is the background to the allegedly offensive piece. The Norway-based artist’s works are based on actual threats that oozed with vulgarity, which she had personally encountered. In this particular work titled 'Go Eat Your Dad', these messages of harassment were turned into prints for public viewing. Translated into Malayalam, the crudeness of the language used rattled a few until one of them decided to attack it.
One would think that angry opposition to an artwork is usually reserved for the art illiterate. But this isn’t the first time that an artist attacked the creation of another. Maurizio Cattelan’s 'The Comedian' was also subjected to something similar at Art Basel 2019. The work that consisted of a yellow banana, fixed onto the gallery’s booth wall with duct tape, had already created ripples for its outrageousness. To add to it, artist David Datuna took the banana off the wall and ate it, to everyone’s shock. He went forth and called his performance Hungry Artist, all done without the artist’s permission, of course.
Renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei once destroyed a 2,000-year-old Han Dynasty Urn as part of a performance. Although the urn belonged to the artist, viewers considered it insensitive to destroy an artefact, while the artist claimed that his act, which was presented as photographs, was one of preservation and cultural rewriting.
This much can be said in conclusion. One may disagree on the purpose of an artwork. Nevertheless, it isn’t ours to destroy. Dissent can always be expressed through dialogue. Conversations can clear the clouds of misconception. Violence can never be the answer to anything at all. Our fragile and fragmented world certainly needs no more destruction!
