Harry Ruhé and Jeannette Dekeukeleire, Shame & Scandal: The Taboo in the Arts

Amsterdam, Cult Club, 2012. Ring binder housing 60 plastic sleeves containing a mix of original and photocopied materials, such as newspaper cuttings, postcards, gallery programs, artists’ contributions, and a DVD with actions by Günter Brus, Nam June Paik & Bill Clinton et al. The hand-assembled documents, accompanied by explanatory texts, relate to cultural and political taboos in the arts, with a focus on works from the 1960s to the present.

Among the taboos explored are sex and sexual deviation, nudity, politics including the celebration of Nazism, death, illness, cannibalism, and the denigration of religion. Featured artists include Charlotte Moorman, Yoko Ono, Lynda Benglis, Carolee Schneemann, Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, Robert Mapplethorpe, Hermann Nitsch, Piero Manzoni et al. This copy is the model for the planned edition of 100 copies, yet no more than 59 copies were produced due to a lack of vintage materials. Dutch version with English translations.