There's been something on my mind for quite sometime and I'd like to discuss with someone but never had the chance. Now I have my blog and I invite everyone to discuss on a tough topic. The topic is pornography vs. art. I believe it is an issue every artist, consciously or unconsciously, has to face. Someone defines pornogrphy as "when you see it, you know it." However, that is not enough.
What triggers me to discuss the topic is an internet site which more than one friend sent to me from China about an open body-painting activity in process at a Beijing's shopping mall under the scrutiny of hundreds of onlookers:
It's shocking, of course, esecially when it happens in China where traditionally women have been taught to be conscious about their body and not long ago under Mao's heavy-handed rule, even faint literary or artistic depiction of female physique could be easily associated with decadent bourgeois or capitalist ideology and became a crime. People naturally feel shocked about what they see at the mall. I don't think today even in this country not all Americans would consider it appropriate to ask half a dozen girls standing naked in a shopping mall and let hundreds of shoppers crowd aroung watching them being body-painted. What bothers me is not this body-painting activity itself. What bothers me is how people interpret it in name of art. I heard my friends call those girls "bold". Let me literally translate one of my friends' comment: "Only an open-minded world eventually would lead [China] to a humanist renaissance." So people think these Chinese girls are "bold" and "open-minded". I am not sure of that. Are the onlookers bold and open-minded? I am not sure, either. I don't know what went in their mind when they saw these naked girls.
My question: Is it art? Is it pornography? If it is not art, what is art?
Since I invite you to discusion, as a host, let me tell you what I think. Do I think human body, female or male, is beautiful? Yes, I do. Do I believe body painting is a form of art? Yes, I do. However, I also believe if art is not valued for its own sake, strictly speaking, it is not art any more. Art form can be used as a tool to serve politics or commercial business. In that sense, it is not art to me. Hitler and Mao both openly declared that art should serve their politics. If human body is the major entity used to create a sensation or as a tool for sexual stimulation in order to attract more shoppers to boost business, it is not art any more. It is exactly how pornography fuctions. In that PowerPoint clip, those poor girls are not art participants; they are not treated with respect. Are they bold or open-minded? No. To me it reflect today's popular mentality in China: everything is for sale. Maybe those poor girls simply think how much they are paid for standing naked in public or whether it is worth more than two days' wages working at the sweatshop. It is the commercialization which is permeated everywhere in today's China.
We all know, as artist, we don't want to show our unfinished work. It is a kind of self-respect. We respect our model because they are our art project participants. They will share our joy if our project is successful. I feel the same principle should be applied to body painitings. As artist, we present only our completed work after we get everything done at studio. You will see how a real body painting artist Craig Tracy and his genuine body painting artworks in the following site. I especially want you to watch the video clip to see how he involves those girls at the studio and how they enjoy the project. Obviously, sometimes, it is more appropriate to present in photo. Anyway, they are genuine art participants.
http://abduzeedo.com/mind-bending-body-painting-work-craig-tracy
Kenneth Tynan once said: pornography is writing that seeks primarily, even exclusively, to bring about sexual stimulation. This can be done crudely or delicately. In the former case it would be bad literature; in the latter good. Even if it is true, art or literature is not all about sexual stimulation. To me, art is all about experssion of feelings and emotions when I can't communicate them better with words.
Once at a portrait session, I heard someone told a young female model to come next time in a more sexy dress. I am not saying anything was wrong with the request, but I felt a question came to my mind: What is a beautiful human body to artist? Make no mistake, of course, you think a young healthy female body is a beautiful body. However, that is beside the question.
In my art world, anything that helps me experss my feelings or emotions most effectively about myself, other human beings, and the world is beautiful. In other words, there is nothing, or no body is not beautiful; it all depends on what I try to express. An usually ugly body could be very beautiful to me. Think of Rembrandt or Goya's figure paintings. If I try to express my amazement at how human experiences of hardships and adversities of life could have left traces on a person's face and body, would I use someone like Taylor Swift as my model? For figure painting as a study, it doesn't matter whether it is live or not, we need to practice all kinds of people: male and female, old and young, different ethnic groups, "standard" and not so "standard". I think, we should remember, sometimes,when an artwork touches us, that is all because we are gagged on the emotionsthe artist try to express.
Now I'd like to hear yours.
http://abduzeedo.com/mind-bending-body-painting-work-craig-tracy
Kenneth Tynan once said: pornography is writing that seeks primarily, even exclusively, to bring about sexual stimulation. This can be done crudely or delicately. In the former case it would be bad literature; in the latter good. Even if it is true, art or literature is not all about sexual stimulation. To me, art is all about experssion of feelings and emotions when I can't communicate them better with words.
Once at a portrait session, I heard someone told a young female model to come next time in a more sexy dress. I am not saying anything was wrong with the request, but I felt a question came to my mind: What is a beautiful human body to artist? Make no mistake, of course, you think a young healthy female body is a beautiful body. However, that is beside the question.
In my art world, anything that helps me experss my feelings or emotions most effectively about myself, other human beings, and the world is beautiful. In other words, there is nothing, or no body is not beautiful; it all depends on what I try to express. An usually ugly body could be very beautiful to me. Think of Rembrandt or Goya's figure paintings. If I try to express my amazement at how human experiences of hardships and adversities of life could have left traces on a person's face and body, would I use someone like Taylor Swift as my model? For figure painting as a study, it doesn't matter whether it is live or not, we need to practice all kinds of people: male and female, old and young, different ethnic groups, "standard" and not so "standard". I think, we should remember, sometimes,when an artwork touches us, that is all because we are gagged on the emotionsthe artist try to express.
Now I'd like to hear yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment