Shock tactics have always worked well to attract instant public attention, stir up discussions and criticism among the public. Things like the porcelain urinal as an art, or duct-taped banana in the museum have never failed to be brought up once in a while when talking about absurdity in art. But does this strategy still work today? it takes more than just yes or no to answer this question. I think we need to put the intention, purpose, and risks into account when talking about shock tactics.
With the rapidly growing technology and communication, the culture also constantly growing and changing. People start to develop critical thinking towards any information they find. However, society also begins to create its own standard of ethics according to their convenience. So there's nothing certain, it's always an experiment when we're talking about public response. The things that are beyond the social 'ethics' will become viral, a place for discussion, and this is exactly the purpose of shock tactics. Of course, in terms of becoming 'viral,' they could be categorized as either extreme 'positive' or extreme 'negative'. Either people will love it or they will hate it. This is where things get interesting, the debate.
Personally, I think that something that we get quickly we also lose it quickly. When there's nothing to talk about, the public gets bored, and the next thing you know it will be quickly covered by a new topic. Also, it is very risky to test the public's standard of ethics, once the public labels it as 'bad', it will be quite a challenge to change this image. I think being different is great, especially in this very saturated world, but creating a meaningful difference is what we need to achieve more than anything. I'm not saying that being weird is wrong, but it's always important to consider our position in society and to be responsible for whatever we are doing.
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