Divine Intervention - Shock, Disruption, and Senselessness in art.

This notion of shock, of disruption, recurs throughout art history. Each time it occurs it brings forth discussion, and in the ideal, that discussion brings needed change, or at least an awareness of the broader nature of life, and perhaps that which we should accept and do not want to change.

From the metaphor of purity, and celebration of Neoplatonic beauty Michelangelo brought forth in the ‘The Last Judgement’, to the intentional statement Duchamp made with their ‘Fountain’. The delivery of this disruption and intention behind it may vary greatly. The artwork may simply embody the truth of the world the artist sees, and that may run contrary to the contemporary ideals of many. Or the artwork may be a direct lampoon of those hard clung to notions that would be better served disrupted and dispelled.

Regardless of direct intent or lack thereof, this exploration of the self and societally imposed boundaries appears as a fundamental part of our cultural journey. Just so as everything old will one day be new again, all that was once shocking may one day be accepted.

Now whilst the progress of this increased acceptance is not solely linear, as we see with the aforementioned work Michelangelo, a man inspired by a past acceptance of form, painting in a time of reform, and then overpainted after his death as those reforms turned to regression. It is important to note that overtime as power structures have changed, the bounds of propriety and shock have dramatically shifted, and whilst they have emerged in some places they hadn’t before, they have disappeared in many, many, others.

Now this of course goes beyond just the conversations started by art, it speaks to seismic shifts brought about through civil unrest, or at times the unexpected cataclysm and catalyst of conflict. Still art is always there (even if it may arrive a few beats after the fact) be it through those simple songs of the unified many, the spray paint of a cities youth, or the fearless documentation and presentation by the individual, art compounds the disruption, galvanises the discussion and translates the abstract horrors in to tangible snd necessary shock.

Generally speaking this cycle of shock, disruption and learning has lead to vast amounts of society less susceptible to many of the ‘shocks’ of the past. No one will accost you for wearing purple velvet despite being of lowly birth, nor will your bare head offend the average man on most streets. But those who we place in one archetype may still draw attention and ire by adorning themselves in the trappings of another, we may not double take at dresses above the knee but we may still hold contempt for that same dress on one we deem unfit to wear it.

This mix of ready acceptance and freedom of expression, commingled with unspoken expectations and centuries of subconscious tradition, has left us in a unique place. We see art designed solely to seek out the attention shock brings, be it selfishness or from a strained sense of self desperately searching for a boundary. Alongside this we see works that seek out genuine conversation through disruption and work shock as much needed hammer so as to shatter foolish sensibilities or shake the heads from the sand they are buried in.

It is this landscape and the works on both sides of it that lead me to write this, because I feel there is a key to this shock that many who court it miss, that key is understanding.

Now we have laid the foundation to this end, in the next part of this write up we’ll be looking at the life and work of the drag queen divine. For drag is not solely a caricature of femininity, but rather one of the male idea and societal construct of femininity, in turn it is then actually a caricature of the masculine. It is the medieval fool with a deep awareness of both prince and pauper, and how each thinks of the other. It is shock through understanding and exaggeration.

What differentiates the cult acclaim and cultural reverence of Johnny knoxville and his crew, from a 16 year old on tiktok throwing milk on the floor of their local Walmart for views? Is it just nostalgia? Production values? The fact Knoxville is kinda hot? Or does this speak to simpler and somewhat more obvious lessons, that much like a well worn joke, eventually the punchline becomes so expected as to rob it of all impact (and even a good joke can flop in a funeral home)

These are the diminishing returns of a jump scare in a film overly reliant on them, this is an awareness of your audiences age and expectation. Much like that film, if the agent of shock has not depth of action nor forethought in reaction, then all the audience is left with is the rapidly waning shock and increasing confusion.

The difference comes from the understanding that grants awareness as to when you are just repeating something. It comes from the implementation of that understanding. The context of actions within the culture of the day, the knowledge of what came before, and of the creators direction, intent, and the desired reaction to the shock put forth.

This is the understanding I touched on in part 1. The understanding of the court jester, aware of not only king, court, and pauper, but also understanding of the perception that the king and court has of those paupers, and vice versa. All compounded by broader contextual knowledge, who at the table they can insult in levity and how to do so, when to punch up, when to be punched down at.

To me this level of understanding is what’s required to deliver shock in an effective manner, and for that shock to generate disruption and change. It is this understanding, this performance of perception, that make Divine the true focus of these pages, and in the words of People Magazine; “The Drag Queen of the Century”

An overweight queer kid in 50s Baltimore, Harris Glenn Milstead suffered exactly as you’d expect, beaten so badly and regularly that they were given rides to school in a police car for their safety. By some miracle of fate though their parents would not only love their child, but foster their penchant for creative extravagance.

At 16 Harris would meet a young man from down the street, recently expelled for smoking the devils lettuce, this young man and Harris would become lifelong friends, and much like Harris would earn their own Monikers in time, so would this friend; ‘The Pope of Filth’ John Waters.

Upon leaving school Harris would train to become a hairdresser, all the while they and John would throw outrageous parties in which Divine began to emerge. Here we find reinforcement of the importance of understanding in shock. Drag makeup and styling are not simply the result of badly applying products and backcombing hair, it takes skill to apply these looks consistently, to paint like a child and craftsman at once. The look is not mere slap dash, it contains reference and artistry, Divine’s own eyebrows are an aggrandised version of Elizabeth Taylor’s.

What’s more we should remind ourselves of the context of the time, this is several years before the stonewall riots and the first pride march, and these two are throwing underground drag shows as though the sword of Damocles hung above them was a blunt prop.

In time the pair would begin to make short films, the most notable of which, Pink Flamingos, sees divine play “Babs Johnson” (yes the person portraying a drag queen is then playing a further part, a role within a role - and I’m sure she would make a joke of that phrasing) it is in this film she eats dog sht, no prop no gimmick.

Now you question what value in that?

Did she really just make me read 3 pages of text to tell me eating dog waste was a valuable artistic statement? Yes. Yes she did, and you’re going to have to read at least one more if you want to find out why.

This was performance art through and through. Harris broke conventions and earned scorn just for existing, they had since childhood, so in this act they became everything society projected on them. Just as divine was an exaggeration of beauty standards and perceived femininity, their actions as ‘Babs’ were a projection of the exaggerated hatred and disgust society felt towards the queer and gender non-conforming.

It is the middle finger of the persecuted, the women being burnt at the stake for witchcraft who in her last breath cries a curse upon the whole town, she cannot change their judgment today so she seeks to make them pause in their future judgments.

It is self sacrifice as much as it is challenge. Risking everything for a single moment thought necessary to shake loose the dead leaves from the tree. This shock would spark such discussion as to draw in crowds to each showing, and when they saw the range, the unapologetic and fearless performance across divines other pictures, they often found themselves enamoured.

It is important to understand again the context of the time, of the delivery, the audience had to seek out these showings, this shock was not thrust upon the unwilling. And the audiences knowledge of drag was not the same as our today, for drag was not the same as it is today, it was Divine who changed that landscape.

The shock delivered would shake drag from its sought out safety and shirked responsibilities, it would reignite the fearless exploration of gender expression, the lampooning of perception, and the discussion of what it is to be us, contained within this art form, this performance of personhood.

Now we could end here, but much like Divine I am not of singular focus. For with this new found fame Harris would push forward, using the shock of their form to hook an audience they would deliver multiple club anthems, even performing on Top of the Pops in the U.K, they would seek out genuine acting roles on stage and screen, appearing in hit classic Hairspray.

Their ability to embrace and understand shock had broken down many doors that would otherwise be closed to a fat queer kid from Baltimore, but unlike those who fail to understand or value shock, Harris would actually walk through those doors, not continue to lash out at all around them.

In their own words “I am not just a drag queen, I am a character actor” and it is this which once again reinforces the point I wish to make, that valuable shock comes from understanding. Divine was an expression of understanding as all good drag should be, and Harris was capable of such expansive understanding as to recognise Divine as a part to play, not an identity to be consumed by.

Divine was a tool, as all good shock should be. Whether it be an ungainly blunt object to merely shatter what is in one’s path, or a scalpel used to dissect another’s prejudice. From a fun house mirror making light of the audiences reflection, to polished silver showing the truth in it. Harris knew when and how to shock, and they knew when not to.

They understood, and understanding can be shockingly powerful.