Art Censorship Essay Research Paper From matthewksproulrosehulmanedu

Art Censorship Essay, Research Paper

From: matthew.k.sproul@rose-hulman.edu To: QUICKPAPERS@TOTALLY.NET Subject: Submit a paperDate: Sunday, November 09, 1997 5:59 PMTitle: Art CensorshipCategory: EnglishDescription:Body of paper: Everywhere people go they are affected by art. Some persons choose art museums, musicals, operas, or plays for entertainment. A lot of people may not attend events like these, but they will encounter art everywhere around them. Magazines, books, billboards, buildings, movies, parks, and city plazas are just a few of the places where art is located. Society cannot escape art, nor should it want to. Art speaks to our emotions and makes a connection to our lives. For some people movies, music, or books provide this connection, for others it may be sculptures, playwrights, or paintings (Heins 5). Art and entertainment often make political statements and move people to action. Unfortunately these political statements are causing a cultural war in the United States. The place of the arts in society and what role government should assume in supporting them is being questioned. Who is to judge what art is worthy of funding and what art is not. The government is trying to mandate standards of content and taste (Heins 4). The cutting of federal funds that go towards artistic programs, which the government considers obscene, is unconstitutional and a form of censorship. There are three strong point that need to be examined when dealing with art censorship. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Nobody can clearly define obscene art. Second, since the United States is a democratic nation, the government should not be able to instruct artists on which art they can or cannot create. Finally, if society is to expand as a whole, how can it possibly grow when other people’s differences are not accepted.One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. The definition of obscene varies greatly from one person to another. Some dictionaries might define obscene as offensive to accepted standards of decency, or maybe it means having lustful and indecent feelings. The United States Government says that obscenity includes depiction’s of sadomasochism, homoeroticism, the exploitation of children, or individuals engaged in sex acts (William 85). The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is the government agency that decides which artistic programs will receive federal funding. The NEA was established in the 1960’s, and has played a highly constructive role in the past. Since its establishment the numbers of major dance companies, operas, and orchestras have steadily increased (Gergen 80). Unfortunately it has come under strong attack recently for funding obscene art. To counterpart its opposition, the NEA announced that some grants would be denied on grounds other than artistic merit (William 85). This statement satisfied the critics, but angered many artists and performers. The obscenity clause is an exception to the first amendment. Basically right now, federal and state governments may censor any form of artistic expression (Heins 4). “Works of art reflect the imaginations, fears, and fantasies of their creators, or of society” (Heins 7). Art is not always comforting and beautiful. It reflects reality sometimes, and surprisingly those images do not make the reality go away (Heins 7). When people look at so called obscene works of art they are not immediately persuaded to go out and imitate the images, yet many small minded individuals disagree. These activists state that government is not restricting free speech, but that it is restricting paid speech (Leo 18). This is true to a certain degree, but it is wrong for the government to mandate funding. Only a communist style government would deny grants to pictures, paintings, or musicals that they did not find appealing, or acceptable to their own personal morals. In this democratic nation, where the freedom of speech and expression are both the backbone of government, congress is imposing legislation that instructs artists and performers what they can create or perform. When many people begin to think about censorship, they probably picture only foreign governments that dictate primordial cultures. Many artists underwent criticism five hundred years ago, yet art censorship has recently reappeared in the United States. The NEA has put new stipulations on dishing out its grants. No funded work may involve obscenity. This new regulation was mainly imposed because of two photographic shows which toured the country (Blucher). Artists Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano have created art that some myopic individuals do not wish to look at, so they do not want anyone else to see this art either. Serrano was a catholic who thought there were sacred meanings of both symbols and body fluids (Heins 123). He took a wooden crucifix and emerged it into his bodily urine, then photographed the display. He titled the work of art “Piss Christ” (William 85). Robert Mapplethorne took pictures in the religious community. These photographs enraged many people in the religious community. Many artists angrily protest any and all government restrictions on federal funding. There were four other rejections of grants recently. Karen Finley performs scenes on stage that include an act in which she coats her nude body with chocolate and bean spouts. She stated her work was intended to advance her aggressive feminism, and to also decry the abuse of women (Gergen 80). S