A man from Pewaukee was arrested April 4th for his new performance art exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Art critics have said that the form of performance art, known as artisto destructo and utilized by such well-known artists as John Cage and Yoko Ono, is little more than someone who is not artistic interacting with art. The piece at the Milwaukee Art Museum, however, involved a man called “Pewaukee Man” ripping down "The Triumph of David" by Ottavio Vannini and putting his foot through the painting, valued at $300,000. Pewaukee Man’s work, entitled “David and Goliath’s Goliath” was no mere angry tirade, but a work of performance art that may turn the art world upside down.
Some avant-garde artists are already hailing the video surveillance of the work as a masterpiece of masterpiece destruction, and some have even vowed to put on their own exhibitions across the country. An artist calling herself “Annihilatia” said in a monotone hum during a phone interview, “Art is in the hands of the people. We are all people. We are all art. A Pewaukee Man is an artist and Ottavio Vannini is an artist. Vannini is dead. David is dead. Goliath is dead. Pewaukee Man’s foot is alive.”
Another artist, calling himself/herself “untitled,” wrote on an art blog that, “If a tree falls in a forest, that is not art, but when a logger cuts down a tree and yells, ‘Timber!’ that is art. A man stomping a piece of art is art, and a man urinating on a building is art, be it an art building or a library. When we get that, we will all know where we are as humans. Pewaukee Man gets it.”
Pewaukee Man may face charges in the assault of the art work, but he is also expected to apply for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in order to further his own performance art career. Many art organizations have come under attack in recent years for supporting art that the general public does not fully understand, and Pewaukee Man’s art would likely fall into that category for most people. However, the fact that local media has for the first time said the words “Ottavio Vannini” leads one to wonder if Pewaukee Man’s exhibition does in fact have some redeeming characteristics. For example, had you not read this, would you have looked at this link? Yes, Pewaukee Man’s quest to enlighten us all and demonstrate the power of art may actually do just that.
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