Injurious Performance Art By Henry Bennett Summary

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This week I reviewed Bennett’s article called, “Tortured genius: The legality of injurious performance art” from the June 1, 2017 edition of Alternative Law Journal. As the title suggests, Bennett analyzes self-harm art through the perspective of Australian law. The author is able to find examples of injurious art spanning from 1970 to 2014. He attempts to remain objective of the subject matter by opting to use the term “injurious” instead of other terms that he cites, such as “body art”, “masochistic performance, or “hardship art” which could be construed as subjective terms (Bennett, 2017, p. 25). Bennett is a lawyer, so his writing style, while simplistic, is aimed towards other lawyers. Also, since the journal that the article appears in is bases in Australia, and Bennett is a lawyer in Australia, the article focuses on Australian common and criminal law. Having a background in Australian law would make the article more …show more content…

For instance, lawyers may find the article to bring up interesting points about art and lead to discussions about censorship and art or what makes injurious performance art different from injuries sustained in sports. Artists, on the other hand, may be disappointed because the article does not offer a clear answer if injurious performances, even fully consensual, is legal. Then there is the perspective of individuals who witness injurious performance art. Some individuals against this form of art may be disappointed that the article does not outright decry public forms of injurious art because they consider the performance disturbing and should be banned. A few individuals may be disappointed that there is no clear cut answer to legality in injurious performances. What this article does well is presenting multiple sides to the argument and using materials from various

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