Abstract

In the Second Surrealist Manifesto (1929), André Breton (1896-1966) claimed that the “simplest Surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand, and firing blindly, as fast as you can pull the trigger, into the crowd". This article assesses whether shooting somebody could ever be considered a work of art, by assessing loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone's claim that his attempted murder of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness (2006) was a work of "performance art"; Chris Burden's performance Shoot (1971), and Valerie Solanas' attempted murder of Andy Warhol (1968). The ethical implications of these acts are compared to the work of Santiago Sierra, and Christabel Pankhurst's defence of militancy. The acts are considered aesthetically by referring to Peter Bond's testimony at the Michael Stone trial, and the "institutional theory of art".