New Bones Magazine Issue out now! Here's my article...

Link here.



There has always been an inherent tension between the law and artistic expression. One seeks to impose a mechanism of governing authority over society’s actions, i.e. make it do something; the other seeks, through the deliberate arrangement of symbolic elements, to provoke a visceral response, i.e. make it feel something. Historically, the way that art has always achieved this to best effect is by breaking with society’s conventions, overstepping the boundaries of decency or finding creative currency in the taboo.

But while art and crime have always been enthusiastic bedfellows – (if not outright shagging each another then definitely flirting inappropriately) - in this multi-media age, we find ourselves a long way from a time when the reddish pink earlobe of John Singer Sargent’s subject in Madame X; or even the more recent unmade Bed of Tracey Emin, was able to shock. Increasingly it seems to be more about the context than the content of a piece of art that determines whether it’s the wrong side of naughty.
Much more interesting than the fucking tired debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is the fact that it’s free; in both senses of the word; like, it costs nothing and is at liberty to go wherever it wants – usually illegal places like private property. Its meaning is as much to do with the illegal act of its creation as it is to do with its message. Most of the time if we want to see a movie for free, or get an album for free we have to commit a criminal act of piracy to do it. By committing criminal acts themselves, graffiti artists make it so that we can enjoy their art with impunity.

Would we have ever heard of Shelley or Byron were it not for the facilitating vices of opium and hookers? Would the Sex Pistols have simply turned out to be another Status Quo dad band if Sid hadn’t shanked Nancy? And it’s not just the artists that can be illegal either. Sometimes the art itself is the transgressor - Lady Chatterley’s Lover was a much better work of erotica when no one was allowed to read it – and sometimes art is the defence - from Izima Kaoru’s studies of rape and murder to the Chapman Brothers’ sexualisation of children. Art can provide a safe filter through which it’s possible to confront difficult subject matter.

The fact is, everything’s just more fun when it’s illicit, isn’t it? Food, sex, art, bootlegged tunes, shoplifted couture... When you’re breaking all the rules it’s worth remembering: when it comes to art, if it doesn’t feel wrong, you’re not doing it right.