McGowan's not-so-cunning stunt

I'm in two minds as to whether or not I should post on this buffoon. Officially, Mark McGowan is a UK-based artist who specialises in unconventional approaches to public demonstration. Here are a few examples of his "work": In 2003, Mark pushed a monkey nut along the road for seven miles with his nose, starting at Goldsmiths College in South London and ending at Number 10 Downing Street where he handed his nut in. This was to protest against student fees. Later that year, he sat in a bath of beans with two chips stuck up his nose and 48 sausages strapped to his head for two weeks, "advocating the consumption of the much maligned English breakfast". Continuing with food as his theme, Mark walked backwards for 11 miles with a 27lb turkey on top of his head shouting at fat people along the way through a homemade loudhailer, protesting against the obesity pandemic. By 2004 he was clearly spoiling for a fight, and wandered the streets of Glasgow and South East London randomly keying (scratching) cars for his latest performance. This attracted the attention of the police, though McGowan defended his actions in a television interview on Channel 4 News by stating that his actions had become "obsessive-compulsive" and that "I [McGowan] suppose it's like a social experiment testing why people do it".

In 2005 Mark advertised for a crack head to take part in one of his performaces, the concept outlined in this press release: "In an extra ordinary art exhibition artist Mark McGowan is intending to kick a crackhead along the road for 7 miles. The performance will start from the House Gallery in Camberwell Church Street in South East London and arrives at the Maudsley Hospital Detox, where McGowan will book the crackhead an appointment to get some help. The piece is called On The Road To A Miracle, about "tough love" and he will be advertising and interviewing prospective candidates and make a final decision four weeks before the start of the event. McGowan says "The participant in the project must have had enough, reached their rock bottom and want to give up drugs. I will kick them all the way along the road with my DMs. I am not sure what position the crackhead should be in, possibly the foetal, curled up on the pavement, whimpering as they get booted along. But this is just my vision of the event, it is open to transformation, compromise and negotiation. My primary purpose is to get the crackhead help, but also to along the way highlight and bring to the attention of people the plight of the drug addict and the shamelessness of their predicament".

A more recent performance was his most popular to date: McGowan dressed up as a traffic warden and invited members of the public to beat him with sticks, which were provided. His latest stunt, performed on 13th January this year, shows he's beginning to scrape the barrel. McGowan tucked into a roast swan in protest against "royalty, the rich, and the upper class". For non-UK readers, only the Queen is allowed to eat a swan and anyone caught eating one is liable for arrest and prosecution. Next!

So.... Yes, his exploits can be entertaining. But they do not qualify him as an artist. He remains an object of ridicule mainly because his absurd attention-seeking behaviour eclipsees any artistic intentions he claims to have. Though there is no doubt that his hearing about his antics cheers up a miserable Monday morning in January.... and that is why I decided to post.