Akcjonizm wiedeński – transgresja jako sztuka społecznej negacji
Viennese Actionism – Transgression as an Art of Social Negation

Summary/Abstract: An act of creation, as a form of human activity whose aim is to bring new value into the world of art is of processual character. Transgression is one of many possible forms of this process. It is defined as a violent, radical, irreversible act of creation, an emanation of the artist’s freedom which consists in disturbing, transgressing, and breaking social rules, laws, or cultural norms – willfully or not – in order to cause a certain artistic effect whose consequences are unpredictable and remain completely outside of the creator’s control. In the second half of the 20th century, a group of radicals calling themselves Wiener Aktionsgruppe began to dangerously balance on the verge of crime. Art, based on the acts of transgression, acquired a role as a tool of social critique, a total negation of the values represented in the “society of dwarves,” a resistance towards a dysfunctional reality. Aesthetic terrorism was a weapon of provocation, a manifestation of a revolt, an attempt to make any kind of change, or simply a distinct approach to aesthetic value. The paper analyses the creative attitudes of Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch, and Otto Muehl, and the causes and consequences of their transgressions. The author also investigates the evolution of the reception of the Viennese Actionists as an example illustrating the dangerous process of getting accustomed to transgression in the course of a slow assimilation of all artistic extremisms inspired by political interest.

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