6th Action
Rudolf Schwarzkogler
Austrian, 1940–1969
1966
A gelatin silver print documenting Rudolf Schwarzkogler’s 1966 staged action in which a bandage-wrapped figure theatrically pulls a limp animal, an intentionally confrontational scene meant to probe the body, ritual, and the limits of representation.
You’re struck by the antiseptic, high-contrast whiteness that isolates the wrapped, almost anonymous body and the limp creature, turning a moment of staged violence into an uncanny, frozen ritual.
Associated with Viennese Actionism, Schwarzkogler’s photographed performances forced photography to record staged bodily transgression and sharpened debates about shock, ethics, and the representational limits of postwar art.
Medium
Gelatin silver print, printed 1982
Dimensions
11 15/16 × 15 5/16" (30.3 × 38.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Family of Man Fund
Accession
177.1998.52
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
