Art destruction: Encyclopedia - Art destruction

Art destruction

Art destruction involves the damaging or destruction of art work. This can happen through a natural process or human invovlement.

Art destruction - Natural destruction

All physical works of art are slowly affected and degraded by the natual elements. Some artwork is created in spite of immediate destruction by nature, such as sand castles.

• In May 2004 a fire destroyed the Momart warehouse in East London which destroyed more than 50 works by abstract painter Patrick Heron and works by other artists. [1]

Art destruction - Intentional destruction

Many works of visual art are intended by the artist to be temporary. They are destroyed by the artist or created in locations where they will be destroyed by the daily life of people. Often the destruction takes place during a cermony or special event highlighting the destruction. This includes:

• Street painting
• Sand mandala

Festivals where artwork is destroyed:

• The week-long Burning Man festival in the desert of Nevada, USA. With tens of thousands of participants who must pay a fee to attend, an entire city of art and self-expression is created.

• The Semana Santa (Easter week) festival in Antigua, Guatemala, where designs made out of flowers and colored sawdust are created in the street prior to being trampled by a religious parade.

• The burning of Zozobra during "Fiestas" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, usually during the second week of September

Art destruction - Controversial destruction

Other works of art are destroyed without the consent of the orignal artist or community of its origin. In other instances works of art are destroyed by a local authority against the wishes of outside community. Examples of this include the removal of Diego Rivera's Man at the Crossroads mural from the Rockefeller Center and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues by the Taliban government.

• The Nazis in Germany destroyed abstract works of art and other art which they did not like which was labeled degenerate art. Other works of art were destroyed during the Second World War due to bombing raids and fighting, such as Courbets The Stonebreakers, which was destroyed in Dresden in 1945 during the allied bombing.

• Artworks destroyed in the September 11 attacks in the United States included a painted wood relief by Louise Nevelson, a painting from Roy Lichtenstein's Entablature series and a Joan Miro tapestry, which are said to be worth as much as $100 million.[2]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Art destruction", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki