The Spectacle as a Commodity: The New York Sensation Show
Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
I will be presenting the contents of my senior thesis paper, The New York Sensation Show: The Spectacle as a Commodity. This research paper will detail the history of the art show that exhibited in London, Berlin and finally New York between 1997 and 1999. The show presents art belonging to prominent British collector Charles Saatchi. It includes the work of young British artists such as Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, and the Chapman Brothers. Sensation was controversial each time it was exhibited criticized for being too focused on shock value but it was most controversial in New York when the mayor Rudolph Guliani threatened to cut public funding from the museum that exhibited the show if they did not shut it down. As a catholic, Guliani was extremely offended by a piece of art by Chris Ofili: a black portrait of the virgin Mary that includes elephant dung and pornography cutouts. Using the concepts of Marxist theoretician, Guy Debord, I will explore the way in which the exhibition was turned into a representation a spectacle and the way in which this spectacle was exploited in different ways by American political leaders museum and gallery officials and even the artists themselves.
Location
Pacific Geosciences Center
Start Date
30-4-2005 11:00 AM
End Date
30-4-2005 12:00 PM
The Spectacle as a Commodity: The New York Sensation Show
Pacific Geosciences Center
I will be presenting the contents of my senior thesis paper, The New York Sensation Show: The Spectacle as a Commodity. This research paper will detail the history of the art show that exhibited in London, Berlin and finally New York between 1997 and 1999. The show presents art belonging to prominent British collector Charles Saatchi. It includes the work of young British artists such as Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, and the Chapman Brothers. Sensation was controversial each time it was exhibited criticized for being too focused on shock value but it was most controversial in New York when the mayor Rudolph Guliani threatened to cut public funding from the museum that exhibited the show if they did not shut it down. As a catholic, Guliani was extremely offended by a piece of art by Chris Ofili: a black portrait of the virgin Mary that includes elephant dung and pornography cutouts. Using the concepts of Marxist theoretician, Guy Debord, I will explore the way in which the exhibition was turned into a representation a spectacle and the way in which this spectacle was exploited in different ways by American political leaders museum and gallery officials and even the artists themselves.