Artist Stunts
It would be lovely if one’s art spoke for itself. But often artists feel that they must resort to stunts in order to publicize themselves and their work. Here are 10 stunts (broadly defined) that artists have used to attract notice—sometimes ingenious, sometimes outrageous, often blurring the line between art and publicity:
- Banksy’s Shredded Painting (2018)
At a Sotheby’s auction, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon self-destructed through a hidden shredder in its frame just after being sold for £1.04 million. The stunt both mocked the art market and instantly created a more valuable “new” work, Love Is in the Bin.
- Damien Hirst’s Diamond Skull (2007)
Hirst’s For the Love of God—a human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds and priced at £50 million—was a masterclass in spectacle, wealth-worship, and self-branding. The work and its hype blurred the line between art and luxury commodity.
- Yayoi Kusama’s Self-Obsession Campaigns (1960s–70s)
Kusama staged nude “happenings,” painted polka dots on people and streets, and issued provocative manifestos—all as a way of inserting herself into public life and media as living art. Her self-promotion was radical performance before “personal branding” existed.
- Marcel Duchamp’s Urinal (1917)
Submitting a porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt” to an exhibition wasn’t just a conceptual leap—it was a deliberate provocation meant to scandalize the art establishment and demand that attention shift from craft to idea.
- Chris Burden’s “Shoot” (1971)
In one of the most shocking performance pieces ever, Burden had a friend shoot him in the arm with a rifle. It instantly brought notoriety and commentary about violence, risk, and the limits of art.
- Maurizio Cattelan’s Banana (2019)
His Comedian—a banana duct-taped to a wall at Art Basel Miami—sold for $120,000. It mocked art-world absurdity while feeding it, drawing headlines and social media frenzy far beyond typical art audiences.
- Marina Abramovi?’s Endurance Performances (1970s–present)
From sitting silently across from museumgoers for hundreds of hours (The Artist Is Present) to offering herself to the audience’s whims (Rhythm 0), Abramovi? turned bodily risk and vulnerability into attention-magnet rituals.
- Tracey Emin’s Unmade Bed (1998)
Emin’s My Bed—an installation of her actual, messy bed with all its debris of daily life—was both confessional and sensational. It sparked tabloid headlines and became emblematic of the “Young British Artists” movement’s shock tactics.
- Andy Warhol’s Self-Mythologizing (1960s–80s)
Warhol turned his entire life into a spectacle: cultivating a blank persona, founding Interview magazine, running the Factory as a celebrity hub, and turning publicity itself into an art medium. His most lasting stunt was erasing the line between artist and brand.
- David Datuna Eating the Banana (2019)
In response to Cattelan’s banana, performance artist David Datuna simply walked up and ate it—calling the act Hungry Artist. This meta-stunt hijacked global media attention and reframed someone else’s gimmick as his own commentary.