Bunt, niezależność i transgresja na sprzedaż. O społecznych rytuałach odbioru oraz tworzenia sztuki „trudnej”

Wersja opublikowana: M. Stępnik, "Bunt, niezależność i transgresja na sprzedaż. O społecznych rytuałach odbioru oraz tworzenia sztuki „trudnej”", (w:) "Artysta-kurator-instytucja-odbiorca. Przestrzenie autonomii i modele krytyki", pod red. M. Kosińskiej, K. Sikorskiej i A. Skórzyńskiej, Wyd. Galerii Miejskiej Arsenał, Poznań 2012, s. 158–188. ISBN: 978-83-61886-41-9

According to Marshall McLuhan: "Art is anything you can get away with". To what extent is this statement correct nowadays? Is there any space for true defiance, a niche left for the last outsiders and contestators in today's art world, or perefably, as Howard Becker would say - simultaneously functioning art worlds? Perhaps it is street art, as a kind of paradoxically rebelious "arier-garde" ( the notion developed by Teresa Pękala), that still has the power to draw public attention and "seduce". In this article, the author argues that ostensibly "difficult", rebellious and transgressive art is, as a matter of fact, a part of certain social rituals, (particularly media rituals). Even an open disapproval, a negative response from the public, to shocking forms or iconography, serves as a part of those rituals. In the described process of social creating the art celebrities and superstars (e.g. Damien Hirst), influential collectors and art dealers play a predominant role. It is significant that art critics tend to turn toward quasi-religious rhetoric, which helps them explicate meanings of the most "difficult" and shocking activities or artefacts. The author also investigates some of the popular strategies applied and developed by contemporary artists. The strategy of being the most famous anonymous artist - Banksy's case - seems to be the most interesting.