Art intervention

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.

Intervention art exists where an individual or group has strong enough beliefs to take perceived ethical action around social issues from materialism to war.

[2][3] Its origins within the history of art are evidenced by such work as Leonardo Da Vinci's "A cloudburst of material possessions"[4] which depicts the artist taking a stand against the materialist status quo.

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..."[17] The show was scheduled for two months, but by the end of the first night had been totally destroyed by visitors: 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.

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,"[19] thus lessening the confrontational impact of his actions.

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.

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,[dubious – discuss] as their boundary bisects the length of the horse) and the present Lord Napier.

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.

Some artists challenge the orthodoxy[clarification needed] 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.

[24] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

[28] Bansky "exhibits a strong sense of inclusivity and humanity" "It takes a lot of guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy for things no one else believes in – like peace, justice and freedom"[27] In February 2005 Jewish artist, Lennie Lee, was censored for exhibiting a piece called "Judensau" (Jew pig) in Treptow Town Hall gallery, Berlin.

[29][30] On 4 January 2006, while on display in the Dada show in the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain was attacked with a hammer by Pierre Pinoncelli, a 77-year-old French performance artist, causing a slight chip.

Another is on display in the Indiana University Art Museum, and there is one also in Tate Modern, where in 2000 it too was the target of a urination performance (unsuccessful according to the gallery) by Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi.

Artist Cartrain removed a packet of Faber Castell 1990 Mongol 482 series pencils from Damien Hirst's installation at his restaurant Pharmacy.

In spring 2003, artist Cornelia Parker intervened in Auguste Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss (1886) in Tate Britain by wrapping it in a mile of string.

This reaction then prompted a further, unauthorised, intervention, in which Parker's string was cut by Stuckist Piers Butler, while couples stood around engaging in live kissing.

[34] In 2003, Jake and Dinos Chapman montaged clown and other "funny" faces onto a set of etchings of Goya's The Disasters of War (which they had purchased), thereby intervening in the original work.

Ostensibly as a protest against this piece, Aaron Barschak (who later became famous for gate-crashing Prince William's 21st birthday party dressed as Osama bin Laden in a frock) threw a pot of red paint over Jake Chapman during a talk he was giving in May 2003.

The Chapmans then added monster heads to Goya's Los Caprichos etchings and exhibited them at the White Cube in 2005 under the title Like a dog returns to its vomit.

However, Dinos pointed out one problem: "sometimes it is difficult to make the original Goya etchings any nastier; in one I found a witch sexually molesting a baby.".

Jonathan Meese, a German performance artist had staged a scheduled event in this environment, erecting props, and giving a wild monologue.

[36] A month later, the Tate pronounced on this incident, "works get interfered with all the time and people often are unsure of the boundaries or social etiquette of Art and react accordingly, sometimes going beyond the pale."

[41] A rare inversion of this was the placement of Fearless Girl, part of a marketing campaign for State Street Global Advisors, in opposition to Charging Bull in New York City.

Charging Bull was originally placed illicitly by sculptor Arturo Di Modica on Broad Street, opposite the New York Stock Exchange, in 1989.

A seminal example of this approach took place in 1917 when Marcel Duchamp submitted a urinal (laid on its back, signed by him "R.Mutt 1917", and titled Fountain) to the Society of Independent Artists exhibition.

[59][60] In 2002, when Martin Creed won with lights going on and off in an empty room, they flicked flashlights on and off outside, and in 2003 displayed a blow-up sex doll to parody Jake and Dinos Chapman's bronze (painted) sculpture modelled on one, by claiming they had the original.

[61] Although barred from the prize ceremony, they have succeeded in infiltrating it psychologically to the extent that twice they have been mentioned by the guest of honour on live TV, just before the announcement of the winner.

Governments along with regional and local councils have adopted tactical urbanism processes and boundary setting to keep a lid on and embrace these widespread interventionist movements.