Gaga, Blackface, and Die Antwoord

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of shock value in performance art.  It's part of the reason I follow Gaga in such an obsessive way. That being said, I think there's a very distinct difference between the styles that Gaga and Die Antwoord use.

Musically and in the eyes of the world they're on completely different levels. Gaga is a five time Grammy Award winning recording artist that sells out 20,000 seat arenas with ease worldwide while Die is mostly known for her outlandish "Rich Bitch" single.

They're completely different types of artists with different fan bases, different genres of music, different messages, and different ends. Most importantly their means are different when they attempt to shock their audiences.

Gaga draws inspiration from established artists, forms, and styles and creates something new. For example- Here's a painting by Salvador Dali and the way Gaga turned that inspiration into an iconic performance...

 

Die chooses another route, poking fun at an artistic statement by Gaga...

 

 

...attacking Gaga personally, and of course drawing inspiration from a very dark time in American stage history...

I searched for a long while looking for an explanation of this but came up with nothing. 

While Gaga can back up her performances with lists of references and frequently does interviews explaining her artistic intent, Die Antwoord is left with classless references to racism and inaccurate assumptions about Gaga's art. 

Watch the "Fatty Boom Boom" video here...

                                   

-Michael