Kick my Ass

The British performance artist Mark McGowan lives and works in London. In his public performances he deals mostly with serious contemporary issues, treating them in a humorous and sometimes provocative manner. He often involves passing pedestrians, his audience, in the performances. In the performance "Kick My Ass" (2007), the artist put on knee pads, gloves, a mask of George Bush's face, a sign reading "kick my ass" on his rear end, and then crawled through New York for 72 hours, totaling 58 miles. He invited people on the streets to do the sign's bidding. In this manner, McGowan provided an active and spontaneous kind of therapy to the public by turning himself into a punching-bag for those angered over the Bush presidency. He considered this performance to be an artistic form of protest. It was intended as part of an international art exhibition at the Lincoln Center.