Critical studies

Transgression and taste talk  

After our talk on transgression and taste we were asked two find two artists dealing with this idea, Ill be discussing Alexander McQueen. 

Transgression is defined by the oxford dictionary as, an act that goes against a law, rule or code of conduct; An offence. 

The piece I’ll be writing about is slightly different as it was a plan that never actually happened but I still believe it to be highly relevant. Alexander McQueen planned to end his last fashion show by coming up from under the ground in a Perspex/glass box, where he would go on to end his life by shooting himself in the head. The blood and such hitting and dripping down the box for all the live audience to witness. This plan did not go ahead, Alexander McQueen took his life in February 2010, in his apartment. 

This claim of McQueens plan was revealed in the book, Alexander McQueen, Blood beneath the skin by Andrew Wilson. This book is a biography of McQueen but goes into detail about how Alexander McQueen confided in his colleague and friend Sebastian Pons of his plans to shoot himself on the catwalk.  

McQueen himself being a designer who pushed the boundaries in many areas of his career and life, I thought although this plan never came actually happened, the idea and even just him as an artist alone is relevant in the category non the less. I could perhaps see how he knew he was certain he wanted to die and so decided to think about it in a romantic artistic sense but I think everyone would agree that it’s a positive that the plan didn’t go ahead, he may have been thinking about it in a deeper way but it would have caused emotional harm to many people, a whole live audience would of been directly effected but definitely even more than just the ones physically viewing it, due to things like the media it would of been widespread everywhere. I believe even though the violence of the act in a literal physical sense would only be against himself, it would of still been a highly violent act inflicted on others, one of mental and emotional violence on a huge scale and I believe that in itself could be considered almost ultimate transgression because of this.