Artistic Discretion

I found out recently that back in 97-98 or so BYU had a show come to their Art Gallery which caused quite a stir. The cause was this sculpture, it was censored out of the show due to (as I heard it) "too racy". I'm sure someone reading this is saying "wow, bored" or "yeah" or "if it's too racy why are you bringing it up?"

Due to the angle I don't think this is showing terribly too much as a sculpture, I do want to make a couple points though, and perhaps begin your Thoughts discussing with your Morals as to why this happened.



In my honest opinion I feel there is no fine line between art and pornography if it shows that which is private in a general open sense.

Is there a reason for the madness? I see the reasoning in wanting to see correct form and posture, line, contour, definition, etc, and even the ability to be able to depict that correctly rather than depicting clothing which "could lie" about ones true shape. Oddly through the renaissance there was the push for perfection in various art mediums and all particularly seemed to want to "nail" the human form perfectly, and there tends to be a good deal of clothless persons being depicted throughout various time periods in the name of art.

Does showing the human form depreciate it's value?

No more than having 4 billion people on the planet with p-o-s cameras depreciates the value of a picture. Considering the amount of people in the world with cell-phone cameras, cheap point and shoot cameras, and even professional line cameras (amateur/entry-level included) I feel like the value of a good photograph has been greatly depreciated. I feel this principle travels seemlessly across the board with most things.

Everyone knowing something about technical support but not enough to be helpful when it comes to something advanced (sorry Tech support people from India, but you're depreciating the quality of help from a fully professionaly trained technician), if you're not seeing how this translates across the board from career to career then I suggest coming back in a couple days to see if it makes more sense (some times new principles are like that, taking time to sink in to their true meaning).

So, does making art of a person in the nude depreciate the value of the human form? Yes, I believe it does. There is nothing more beautiful than the human form, therefore there is nothing more terrible to abuse than making the most elite form as common as dust on a road.

Does religion play a part of it?

It can, it should. A persons religious beliefs should supercede their secular beliefs. Yes science has proved that a glass of wine CAN be a health thing, many religions proclaim that abstaining from wine, and all other forms of alchohol, is even better for you. Religious beliefs should supercede a persons secular beliefs. This may be some cause for alarm in some people. It should.

"What if God tells a person to kill me?"

Does your God see fit for you to die? Is it a horrible thing that you die? Have you placed yourself into the kind of living style that will allow you to live happily after this life? If your belief system is such that your faith is sufficient should something like this occur?

Justice is universal, regardless of beliefs in Diety, justice is justice and if someone does you some injustice than at some point in their existence the injustice will be corrected. Justice is a tennet of every religion, every diety on earth holds true to it, rest assured justice will be dealt.

Perhaps this is a far tangent from the original starting point... Hopefully you can see the common ground it all shares.

If we perform an injustice to the human form by presenting it unrespectfully in the eyes of society or deity than there is some justice to be dealt. Is there anything wrong with showing beauty of form? No. Is there something wrong with showing beauty in form without protecting the sanctity of something that was once held sacred? Let your conscience, and your religious beliefs dictate that to you.

I didn't say to let your society be your guide. Why? Because it becomes so easy to let a person say "everyone is doing it" or "I feel bad about this, but it's so common and normal in todays world that I guess it's ok". Leaving your personal beliefs and morals to a common group is the easy way out, it's giving society the blame for when you do something bad, because "well, THEY said it was OK" rather than taking responsibility for your own actions.

So maybe I went on another tangent, but I think it pulls it together. If not, then write about it, figure more of it out, piece it together yourself and see if your life relates to what your beliefs really are.