Shock & Disorientation

Although I wouldn't say disorientation is the "supreme" form of aesthetic experience, I do find that most art aims to be shocking in some aspect in order to captivate the viewer and be interesting or memorable. Artists want to create something that is striking to the audience and makes a statement. Sometimes a lack of shock will be ironically making a statement, or the artist will be specifically trying to create anti-art, but I think that regardless of intent there is still a message communicated. The meta-message lies more on the part of the audience than the artist, and depends on how the art is perceived. Modern entertainment is very inclusive of the horror genre, which explicitly has the intention of inducing fear in the audience. The repeated exposure to fear and shock is almost anti-productive in that it makes the consumer less sensitive to this kind of artistic disorientation. A mild form of fear is included as a normal part of media consumption, keeping viewers in a constant loop of being told to fear something and then buy something in order to be accepted/safe/comfortable. But it is this mixture of fear and comfort that makes an impact on the audience when done in an eccentric way. People constantly seek to explore things that make them uncomfortable, and art makes it possible to have these experiences vicariously.

An example of a shocking/disorienting artistic piece is this performance at an art show by Yoko Ono. It completely succeeds in disorienting the audience (based on their reactions), and even without experiencing it live I can feel the confusion every time I watch it. A true classic.