PORTFOLIO

The issues that preoccupy society today – whether politically or emotionally – are much the same as those that engaged previous centuries: power and capital, sex and gender roles, religion and faith. In relation to such topics, art has for many decades amply fulfilled its role as agent provocateur, enfant terrible, and antagonist. But what forms do such sociopolitical interventions take today? In an era of digital image delirium, has it become more difficult to shock viewers, to trigger them emotionally? In this trio of films, we investigate these questions, which are among the most urgent of our time. Do artists need to deploy different resources in order to reach an audience? What does provocation look like today? Was it once easier to use art as a means of provocation because societal taboos were more firmly fixed than they are today, and hence more readily transgressed?  In this trilogy of films, which deals with power and wealth, sexism and gender roles, religion and faith, viewers will discover how artists have addressed these themes in provocative ways throughout history, and how they still doing so today, albeit in different ways.