On Playful Theft: Master Thieves and Trolling the (Art) Establishment
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Date
2015-08-18
Authors
Panther, Benjamin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
This thesis places art heists in the context of their journalistic and online commentaries to examine their implications for subversive anti-capitalist criticism. The 2012 Rotterdam Art Heist functions as a case study that demonstrates how online trolling participates in the production of a culture that undermines the conventional dualisms between popular and high culture. By linking crime and its commentaries to game and performance theories the thesis promotes pop culture against its devaluation by 20th century cultural critics Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. Hence, it argues for folklore’s role in critically rethinking the scholarship on the work of these acclaimed cultural critics. Anti-establishment perspectives are set against bourgeois moments in the Frankfurt School’s critical theory.
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Keywords
Anti-Capitalism, Crime, Film, Heist, Play, Trolling