Hmmm, I do think that once an artist (writer, painter, musician, etc.) puts her work out there for an audience, she does loose control over it. A friend of mine is a professional writer, and when I finished one of her stories, I told her that I wasn't sure if the ending was happy or sad. Push the interpretation a little one way or another and it could have been either. She told me that neither interpretation is what she intended, then explained what she was going for. Then she said, "Not that it matters much. I'm just the writer. I don't get to tell people what it should mean to them."
However, the photo spread of underage sexuality/sexual violence also invites the question of whether or not a writer should be held accountable morally for what she produces. I didn't see the display, but my first response to the underage part is that it seems illegal (child pornography laws being what they are) and rightly so. That makes it hard for me to talk about that specific example. However, even if we were talking about adult sexuality in the rape spread, is the artist responsible for the content of his work? If I write grisly scenes of depraved murder or rape scenes in my horror novel, should I be taken to task for that? Do I owe it to my readers to consider that it likely would offend or sicken them?
That touches on a different issue for me. An artist's imagination should not be fettered in any way. I would defend the photographer's right to produce works that are cruel or brutal, works that disturb me and that I wouldn't want to see myself.
Still, the whole "Art is about expression!" argument doesn't fly with me. Art has structure and meaning, even if the artist can't see it himself, but artists worth their salt can. Do you think that Dali just tossed random images on the canvas because that was how he was feeling one day? I don't. Artists deal with symbols all the time, and they are aware that they do. At least all the ones I know are aware that they do.
So yeah, I think that your photographer was being a little uppity when he said what he did. That sort of talk really shuts down discussing art with the artist rather neatly. It lets him not have to talk about his work because he can't really explain his expression. He just...expresses it! ^_~
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Re: quite random, not meaning to offend
Date: 2005-08-24 01:37 am (UTC)However, the photo spread of underage sexuality/sexual violence also invites the question of whether or not a writer should be held accountable morally for what she produces. I didn't see the display, but my first response to the underage part is that it seems illegal (child pornography laws being what they are) and rightly so. That makes it hard for me to talk about that specific example. However, even if we were talking about adult sexuality in the rape spread, is the artist responsible for the content of his work? If I write grisly scenes of depraved murder or rape scenes in my horror novel, should I be taken to task for that? Do I owe it to my readers to consider that it likely would offend or sicken them?
That touches on a different issue for me. An artist's imagination should not be fettered in any way. I would defend the photographer's right to produce works that are cruel or brutal, works that disturb me and that I wouldn't want to see myself.
Still, the whole "Art is about expression!" argument doesn't fly with me. Art has structure and meaning, even if the artist can't see it himself, but artists worth their salt can. Do you think that Dali just tossed random images on the canvas because that was how he was feeling one day? I don't. Artists deal with symbols all the time, and they are aware that they do. At least all the ones I know are aware that they do.
So yeah, I think that your photographer was being a little uppity when he said what he did. That sort of talk really shuts down discussing art with the artist rather neatly. It lets him not have to talk about his work because he can't really explain his expression. He just...expresses it! ^_~