Shia LaBeouf has exclaimed that recent accusations of plagiarism have all been in the name of "performance art".

The ex-Transformers actor has been criticised in the press after it was revealed that his short film Howard Cantour had plagiarised Daniel Clowes graphic novel.

LaBeouf - who claimed earlier this month that he [uuid=08508374-926a-466d-a3c2-5de62302167d]was "retiring from public life" [/uuid]after his war of words with Clowes - is now said to have tried to justify his actions on Twitter.

According to Gossip Cop, Shia wrote on Saturday (January 18): "Performance art has been a way of appealing directly to a large public, as well as shocking audiences into reassessing their own notions of art and its relation to culture.

"All art is either plagarisum (sic) or revolution & to be revolutionary in art today, is to be reactionary.

"In the midst of being embroiled in acts of intended plagiarism, the world caught me & I reacted."

He went on to explain his Twitter user name, The show began. I became completely absorbed, oblivious to things around me."

The actor also explained that his Twitter handle, @TheCampaignBook, represents "meta-modernist performance art," adding that his actions have sparked a "broad cultural discussion that needs to be had about plagiarism in the digital age & celebrity/social media absurdity."

Shia also poked fun at his [uuid=6ca1022d-042f-4d27-a55a-1489d0106c8f]recent scuffle in a London pu[/uuid]b, ending his rant with the hashtag: "#StopHeadButting."