As we embark on our final 4D project for this year of foundation, we were tasked to research on and write about 3 controversial artists of our selection, with “scandalous” works of either video or performance art installation.

*cue gasp*

Here are my 3 chosen artists:

1) Damien Hirst

Having already studied Damien Hirst during my times in junior college, I already knew how controversial an artist Damien was. Some of his most famous works include the submersion of corpses of animals submerged in a formaldehyde solution. The work seemingly has not many connections to its title, most of the time exploring on Hirst’s recurring theme of death, preserving the dead bodies. What made the works controversial, however, was the fact that Damien took a dead shark and submerged it into a preserving solution, and called it art. Many critics have argued against his contributions to the art world, and whether what he does can be considered art.

Furthermore, it was suspected that the formaldehyde solution could have been leaking dangerous and poisonous fumes, endangering the lives of the viewers in the museum. It has since been debunked, however, one cannot completely rule out it is not a possibility.

2) The Chapman Brothers

The Chapman brothers are a pair of artists that never take themselves too seriously. They have been criticised as not having any technical abilities whatsoever. However, people do not notice that they have an incredible talent in manipulating the media to generate the attention that fuels their line of work. When Jake Chapman was quoted to have said that it was pointless to bring children to galleries, and that they are still children and not “human” yet, many artists spoken out against Chapman. However, art critic Will Gompertz had this to say.

“The formula is simple: When you have an exhibition to promote, say something mildly inflammatory to the press, and watch the column inches (particularly in August) and ticket sales soar.

Jake Chapman’s comment about kids and paintings is a beautifully crafted example of the art. It has generated loads of attention, reinforced the brothers’ bad-boy brand, and alerted an “outraged” middle England to the Chapmans’ new show. Job done.”

3) Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei was an artist that got his name out there through blogging on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo. Through this, he “turned out a steady stream of scathing social commentary, criticism of government policy, thoughts on art and architecture, and autobiographical writings.” One of his most famous art series was the Study of Perspective series. It was one in which he simply pointed the middle finger to many famous monuments, almost in a way, telling the government to f- off.