Skandale na przełomie wieków
Scandals at the Turn of Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this text is to demonstrate fundamental differences in comprehending a scandal at the end of the nineteenth century (E. Munch, Madonna) and the scandal strategy in contemporary art (M. Cattelan, La Nona Ora / The Ninth Hour). In the first case an unintended scandal was the outcome of a philosophical stance adopted by artists questioning Cartesian tradition as well as of the use of Expressionist means, considered shocking at the time. In the second instance, the deliberate creation of the scandal strategy assumed the relegation from the discourse about the artwork of all aesthetic and formal deliberations as well as stirring a barren publicistic dispute, which only creates the appearances of a philosophical clash. A context indispensable for the success of such a devised provocation is the ritual chaos prevailing in the media and a milieu of art critics dominated by “political correctness”.

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