Transgressive art refers to art forms that transgress; i.e. that go across or against basic mores. The term trangressive was first used by American filmmaker Nick Zedd and his Cinema of Transgression. Zedd used it to describe his legacy with underground film-makers like Andy Warhol, John Waters and Kenneth Anger, and the relationship they shared with Zedd and his New York peers in the early '80s -- artists like Richard Hell, Foetus and poet-singer Lydia Lunch. Resources ArtLex. ... Transgression refers to an action that breaks some code or set of rules, that is, goes across or against basic assumptions or norms. ... A gynecologist in 19th-century France conforms to his societys mores The term mores (IPA ) as used in sociology is a plural noun. ... Nick Zedd, a New York City based filmmaker and author, coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded artists using shock value and humor in their work. ... The Cinema of Transgression is a term coined by Nick Zedd in 1985 to describe, a New York City based underground film movement, consisting of a loose-knit group of like-minded artists using shock value and humor in their work. ... Andy Warhol , photographed by Helmut Newton Andy Warhol (born Andrew Warhola) August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American painter, film-maker, publisher and a major figure in the pop art movement. ... Photo of John Waters by Robert Birnbaum John Waters (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker. ... Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born February 3, 1927 in Santa Monica, California) is an underground avant-garde film-maker and author. ... Richard Hell Richard Hell (born October 2, 1949) is the stage name of Richard Myers, an American singer, songwriter and writer, probably best-known as frontman for the early punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. ... Foetus is the main entity of industrial music pioneer J.G. Thirlwell. ... Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Koch on June 2, 1959 in Rochester, New York, also the birthplace of female rock musicians Kim Gordon and Wendy O. Williams) is an American rock singer, poet, writer, and actress. ...

Perhaps the most famous transgressive artist of early '80s, Richard Kern began making films in New York with infamous underground actors Nick Zedd and Lung Leg. Some of them were videos for artists like the Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth. Richard Kern (born 1954) is a New York underground filmmaker and photographer. ... Nick Zedd, a New York City based filmmaker and author, coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded artists using shock value and humor in their work. ... Lung Leg, in Fingered Lung Leg with Poosa, in Sewerbaby Born Elizabeth Carr in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lung Leg is best known for appearing on the cover of the Sonic Youth album EVOL. She was the pin-up girl and star of the transgressive movement, disappearing as quickly as she rose... The cover of the album Locust Abortion Technician The Butthole Surfers are an American Psychedelic and punk band. ... Sonic Youth are an experimental rock group formed in New York City in 1981. ...

Subsequent transgressive artists of the '90s overlapped the boundaries of literature, art, literature and music, most notably GG Allin, Lisa Crystal Carver, Costes and Dame Darcy. With these artists came a greater emphasis on life itself (or death) as art, rather than just depicting a certain mindset in film or music. They were instrumental in creating a new type of visionary art and music, and influenced artists like Alec Empire, Cock E.S.P., Crash Worship, Usama Alshaibi, Liz Armstrong, Weasel Walter, Andy Ortmann, and the later work featured in Peter Bagge's Hate. Later life GG Allin Controversial punk rocker GG Allin. ... Lisa Crystal Carvers visionary writing in Rollerderby, made her perhaps the most famous writer of the zine boom in the early 90s, along with scribes like Pagan Kennedy. ... Jean-Louis Costess noise music albums can be described as wild, chaotic screechfests through dark Freudian terrain. One-time husband of Lisa Crystal Carver, he helped write the backing noise-opera music of the Suckdog Circus, and was also a performer in Suckdog, along with Carver, Dame Darcy, Coz... Darcy Megan Stanger, known professionally as Dame Darcy is one of the most popular and well-regarded alternative comics artists today. ... Alec Empire (born May 2, 1972) is a German musician. ... Cock E.S.P. is one of the most prolific noise music bands today, appearing on over 50 separate albums, some of them containing collaborations with artists like Costes, Merzbow, Thurston Moore, Weasel Walter, Panicsville, Harry Pussy and Misty Martinez. ... Crash Worship is a hardcore, rhythm & noise outfit formed in Southern California in the late 1980s. ... Chicago-based filmmaker Usama Alshaibi was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1969. ... Liz Armstrong lives in Chicago, Illinois. ... Creator of the free glam aesthetic, along with other members of To Live and Shave in L.A. 2 including Liz Armstrong and Rat Bastard, and one of the reigning scene kings of the Chicago noise scene during the 90s and early 00s. ... Peter Bagge is an American comics artist and creator of Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop. ... Hate is a humorous, cynical, semi-autobiographical comic book by Peter Bagge, published by Fantagraphics Books. ...

Probably the most thorough book on the early transgressive movement is Deathtripping: The Cinema of Transgression by Jack Sargeant. Jack Sargeant (12 March 1968) is the author of several books on underground film, including: Deathtripping: The Cinema of Transgression, about transgressive filmmakers such as Richard Kern and Nick Zedd, Naked Lens: Beat Cinema, and Cinema Contra Cinema, a collection of essays on alternative film. ...

However, the term can also be applied to transgressive literature as well. Recent examples include Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and J.G. Ballard's short story The Enormous Space. These works dealt with issues that were considered to be outside the social norms. Their characters abused drugs, engaged in violent behaviour or could have been considered sexual deviants. Transgressional fiction is a form of literature in which the story centres around one or more characters who feel confined by the current norms and expectations of (usually Western) society. ... Trainspotting (1993) is the first novel by Irvine Welsh. ... Irvine Welsh, reading one of his new short stories at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Irvine Welsh (born Leith, Edinburgh, September 27, 1958) is a Scottish novelist. ... American Psycho book cover This article is about the book and film. ... Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author. ... Fight Club (1996) is the first published novel by Chuck Palahniuk. ... Charles Michael Chuck Palahniuk (born February 21, 1961 in Pasco, Washington, USA) is an American satirical novelist and freelance journalist living in Portland, Oregon. ... James Graham Ballard (born November 18, 1930 in Shanghai) is a British novelist. ...

From a collegiate perspective, many traces of transgression can be found in any art which by some is considered offensive because of its shock value; from the French Salon des Refusés artists to Dada and surrealism. Philosophers Mikhail Bakhtin and Georges Bataille have published works on the nature of transgression. Offensive may relate to In sports or combat, the team which is attacking, pitching or moving forwards In language or morals, terms and concepts which are unacceptable to some people, such as swearing and profanity. ... Shock value is the potential of an image, text or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, or similar negative emotion. ... The Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) was an art exhibition in Paris. ... Cover of the first edition of the publication, Dada. ... Surrealism is a cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement oriented toward the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative faculties of the unconscious mind and the attainment of a state different from, more than, and ultimately truer than everyday reality: the sur-real, i. ... Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (November 17, 1895 (new style)-March 7, 1975), a Russian philosopher and literary scholar, wrote influential works in literary theory and literary criticism. ... George Bataille Georges Bataille (September 16, 1897 – July 9, 1962) was a French writer, anthropologist and philosopher, though he avoided this last term himself. ...

Some themes common in transgressional works overlap considerably with those of art dealing with psychological dislocation and with mental illness. Examples of this relationship between social transgression and the exploration of mental states which may be defined as relating to illness, would include many of the activities and works of the Dadaists and Surrealists and, in literature, Albert Camus's L'Etranger or J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Psychology (Classical Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and its relationship to the mind and brain. ... The Scream, the famous painting commonly thought of as depicting the experience of mental illness. ... Albert Camus Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French author and philosopher and one of the principal luminaries (with Jean-Paul Sartre) of existentialism. ... The Stranger, also translated as The Outsider, (the original French version is called LÉtranger) (1942) is a novel by Albert Camus. ... Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for The Catcher in the Rye, a classic coming-of-age story that has enjoyed enduring popularity since its publication in 1951. ... The Catcher in the Rye book cover The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J. D. Salinger. ...

See also

• Cinema of Transgression
• Transgressional fiction

The Cinema of Transgression is a term coined by Nick Zedd in 1985 to describe, a New York City based underground film movement, consisting of a loose-knit group of like-minded artists using shock value and humor in their work. ... Transgressional fiction is a form of literature in which the story centres around one or more characters who feel confined by the current norms and expectations of (usually Western) society. ...

Reference

Transgressions : The Offences of Art (2003) - Anthony Julius ISBN: 0500237999