Art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience, venue/space or situation. It is in the category of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with Letterist International, Situationist International, Viennese Actionists, the Dada movement and Neo-Dadaists. More latterly, intervention art has delivered Guerrilla art, street art plus the Stuckists have made extensive use of it to affect perceptions of artworks they oppose and as a protest against existing interventions.
Intervention can also refer to art and actions which enter a situation outside the art world in an attempt to change the existing conditions there. For example, intervention art may attempt to change economic or political situations, or may attempt to make people aware of a condition that they previously had no knowledge of. Since these goals mean that intervention art necessarily addresses and engages with the public, some artists call their work "public interventions".
Although intervention by its nature carries an implication of subversion, it is now accepted as a legitimate form of art, and is often executed with the endorsement of those in positions of authority over the artwork, audience, or venue/space to be intervened in. However, unendorsed (i.e. illicit) interventions are common and lead to debate as to the distinction between art and vandalism."Incidents of art vandalism" cabinetmagazine.org. issue 3. Retrieved 22 March 2006 By definition it is a challenge, or at the very least a comment, related to the earlier work or the theme of that work, or to the expectations of a particular audience, and more likely to fulfil that function to its full potential when it is unilateral. Although, in these instances, it is almost certain that it will be viewed by authorities as unwelcome, if not vandalism, and not art.
Origins
Intervention art exists where an individual or group has strong enough beliefs to take perceived ethical action around social issues from materialism to war. Its origins within the history of art are evidenced by such work as Leonardo Da Vinci's "A cloudburst of material possessions" which depicts the artist taking a stand against the materialist status quo. Goya's Black etchings 1812–15 depict almost documentary evidence of actual war depravities. Both examples display the art of conscience.
These examples were made by artists who relied for their livelihoods on ruling class patronage so both were only posthumously made public.
History Intervention art also contests the boundaries between the art world and the real world. Such interaction surfaced when artists started using found objects which they incorporated into painting. This began with Cubism around 1912 and the use of collage such as Kurt Schwitters' Merz.
For the remainder of the 20th century and into the early 21st century Intervention artists gravitated away from the market driven art back into the real world; "artists must be activists"... framing elephants in rooms."
Significant Intervention works of art 1915 – Dada publications and performances 1917 – Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" 1937 – Picasso's Guernica 1952 – Letterist international, Situationists international, Vienese Actionists 1960s – Land art – Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" and Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Hans Haacke, Michael Heizer, Neil Jenney, Richard Long, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Gunther Uecker. 1970 – Bonnie Sherk's "Sitting still" (1970), "Public Lunch" (1971), "The Park" (1974) 1974 – Christo's "Valley curtain" 1975 – Adam Purple's NYC guerrilla garden 1978 – Alan Sonfist's Time Landscape 1978 – Barry Thomas's "Vacant Lot of Cabbages", (1978) "Street Stringing" (1978, '79, 2017), rADz (1997-2001) 1982 – Joseph Beuys' "7000 Oaks" 1982 – Agnes Denes' "Wheatfield" 1984 - Don Joyce's Culture Jamming 1986 – Burning man 1989 – Kalle Lasn's Ad busters anti advertising 1999 – Stuckists 2003 – Bill Wasik's Flashmobs 2005 – Magda Sayeg's Yarn bombing 2011 – Pussy Riot 2015 – Banksy's "Dismaland" and "Walled off" (2017) 2023 – Ai Weiwei's "Middle finger" 2023 – Boris Eldagsen Wins photography prize using artificial intelligence
Authorised There are many art interventions which are carried out in contexts where relevant invitation and approval has been given.
Detroit MONA goes kaBOOM!, 2002 The extreme to which an authorised intervention can go and yet still meet with institutional approval was shown in 2002, when the Museum of New Art in Detroit staged a show kaBoom!, with the announcement, "Over the course of the exhibition, museum visitors will be invited to smash, drop, throw and slash artworks..."Announcement of kaBOOM! Retrieved 20 March 2006 The show was scheduled for two months, but by the end of the first night had been totally destroyed by visitors: "They even destroyed the pedestals and wall shelves," one museum staffer shrugged in disbelief. Fires were set in isolated galleries and a wrecking ball for one display had been removed from its chain and used instead as a bowling ball, taking out an installation as well as the corner of one wall. "In a twisted way, it was a wild success," MONA's director Jef Bourgeau says the morning after, on a surprisingly bright note as he wades through the carnage and debris.kaBOOM! reviewed Retrieved 20 March 2006 This follows the precedent of the Dadaists. At one of their shows, visitors were invited to smash the exhibits with an axe.
Hanging Old Masters backwards, 2004 A more usual authorised art intervention in an institution is done with great care to make sure that no harm comes to the existing collection. In 2004, the Old Town House in Cape Town, South Africa, hung its Michaelis Collection of 17th century Dutch Old Master paintings facing the wall. The curator Andrew Lamprecht said this exhibition, titled Flip, "would force gallery goers to reconsider their preconceptions about the art and its legacy." Knowledge of intent is integral to such a process, as it would be perceived differently if it were announced in a conservation context, rather than as an art piece. However, in this instance there was some ambiguity about the purpose of the exercise as Lamprecht, although stating, "I'm asking questions about the history," also added a more standard "educative" comment, "the reverse of the paintings revealed a wealth of detail not normally on view to the public, ranging from old attempts to preserve the canvas to notes from different collectors over the years,""Old Masters to Be Hung Facing the Wall", The Guardian, August 4, 2004 Retrieved 4 March 2006 thus lessening the confrontational impact of his actions.
Lord Napier in red tape, 2004 An authorised art intervention that required considerable effort to gain the requisite permission was the wrapping in red duct tape of the equestrian statue of Lord Napier of Magdala, situated on Queen's Gate in West London. This was done by Eleonora Aguiari, a Royal College of Art (RCA) student for her final show. When questioned as to whether she had considered a clandestine act, she replied, "No, not my style, I like to challenge the institutions." In order to do this she needed clearance letters from the RCA Rector, a professor, the Victoria and Albert Museum conservation department and the RCA conservation department, bronze tests, a scaffolding license, indemnity insurance, and permission from English Heritage (who own the statue), the City of Westminster, two Boroughs (Chelsea and Kensington, as their boundary bisects the length of the horse) and the present Lord Napier.
Then a layer of cling wrap and almost 80 rolls of red duct tape were applied by 4 people working for 4 days. Aguiari described it as "a Zen action up there in the middle of traffic, but alone with a beautiful statue. Every detail on the statue is perfect and slightly larger than normal," and said that "statuary that symbolizes military past, or imperialism should be covered to make the topics of the past visible.""The Red Tape of Red Tape," arcroyal.co.uk Retrieved 22 March 2006 Aguiari then received a phone call: "Saatchi wants to talk to you," but, on keeping the appointment, she found herself talking not to Charles Saatchi but to Michael Moszynski of the advertising firm, Saatchi & Saatchi, who thought her idea would be suitable for "a Tory advertising campaign," and wanted her to wrap an ambulance in red tape. She declined the offer."Artist Caught up in Red Tape and Tory Ad Campaign", The Guardian, June 12, 2004 Retrieved 22 March 2006
Despite her official clearance, the action caused controversy"BLOC 2005", ldn.flavourpill.net, 2005 Retrieved 20 January 2007 through press coverage, including a Reuters press agency photo reproduced in the Daily Times of Pakistan."A statue of Britain's Lord Napier" , The Daily Times (Pakistan), 28 May 2004
Paul Kuniholm at Nordic Heritage Museum, 2013
Paul Kuniholm intervened his steel and textile sculptures worn on the body, with wicker art of his great-grandfather John Emil Kuniholm, posed by The Nordic Heritage Museum in 2013. The action was repeated several more times at locations such as Seattle Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, New York City's Central Park, and in Sweden for the Jönköping Municipality.
Illicit Some artists challenge the orthodoxy by not seeking, or perhaps not being able to obtain, permission, but carry out their intention anyway, contravening regulations—with official reactions of differing degrees of severity.
Concomitant, 1983
Since 1983 Eberhard Bosslet has performed site-specific outdoor intervention, so-called "Re/formations and side effects", in the Canary Islands.
Black Sheep, 1994 In 1994, Damien Hirst curated the show Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away at the Serpentine Gallery in London, including his artwork Away from the Flock a disembowelled sheep in a tank of formaldehyde. In an interview, Hirst said that he did not mind what people thought of his work "so long as they get involved". The next day artist Mark Bridger removed the top of the artwork's tank and poured black ink into it, changed the title to Black Sheep and handed his business card to gallery staff.
Bridger was subsequently prosecuted, at Hirst's wish. The artist's defence was that he thought Hirst would benefit from the publicity and critic Tony Parsons said the artist's action proved that what Damien Hirst does is art. The exhibit was restored at a cost of £1000.
Two men jump naked into Tracey's bed, 1999
A notable case of an unauthorised intervention—which did no damage, yet was still liable for prosecution—occurred at 12.58 p.m. on 25 October 1999, when two artists, Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi, jumped on Tracey Emin's installation My Bed, in the Turner Prize at Tate Britain, wearing only underwear. They called their performance Two Naked Men Jump Into Tracey's Bed. They were arrested for their action, but no charges were pressed. Chai had written, among other things, the words "ANTI STUCKISM" on his bare back. They said they were "improving" Emin's work, because they thought it had not gone far enough, and opposed the Stuckists, who are anti-performance art."Satirists Jump into Tracey's Bed", The Guardian, October 25, 1999 Retrieved 22 March 2006
Banksy, c.2000 – 2023
"Banksy" is the operating name of one of the best-known interventionists in the UK. He has carried out many graffiti stencillings, usually with a specific message or comment. He has also infiltrated his own artwork into museums, where they have remained for varying amounts of time before being removed. In May 2005, for example, he hung his own version of a primitive cave painting, showing a human hunting with a shopping trolley, in the British Museum. He is now one of the most sought-after artists. His work now commands millions of dollars in the auction houses of Britain and America.