Published on idebate.org (http://idebate.org) Home > THBT social disgust is legitimate grounds for restriction of artistic expression THBT social disgust is legitimate grounds for restriction of artistic expression The history of art is full of pieces which, at various points in time, have caused controversy, or sparked social disgust. The works most likely to provoke disgust are those that break taboos surrounding death, religion and sexual norms. Often, the debate around whether a piece is too ‘disgusting’ is interwoven with debate about whether that piece actually constitutes a work of art: people seem more willing to accept taboo-breaking pieces if they are within a clearly ‘artistic’ context (compare, for example, reactions to Michelangelo’s David with reactions to nudity elsewhere in society). As a consequence, the debate on the acceptability of shocking pieces has been tied up, at least in recent times, with the debate surrounding the acceptability of ‘conceptual art’ as art at all. Conceptual art1 is that which places an idea or concept (rather than visual effect) at the centre of the work. Marchel Duchamp is ordinarily considered to have begun the march towards acceptance of conceptual art, with his most famous piece, Fountain, a urinal signed with the pseudonym “R. Mutt”. It is popularly associated with the Turner Prize and the Young British Artists. This debate has a degree of scope with regards to the extent of the restriction of artistic expression that might be being considered here. Possible restrictions include: limiting display of some pieces of art to private collections only; withdrawing public funding (e.g. Arts Council grants, in the UK) from artists considered to have produced unacceptable art; and, at the more extreme end, the complete censorship of some art. For the purposes of the debate below I will assume that in most sensible debates what will be discussed is one or both of the first two of those options (removal from public display and withdrawal of public funds). Key Examples: There are a number of key examples of works of art that have caused public controversy and social disgust. Notable amongst these are works by the ‘Young British Artists (YBA)’2, whose ranks include Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin. Damien Hirst: Amongst Hirst’s work, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living3, (a 14-foot tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde), A Thousand Years4 (a rotting cow’s head, lying in blood, in a large glass cube, with an adjoining cube containing maggots and flies) and For the Love of God5 (a platinum cast of a human skull, covered in diamonds) are probably his most well-known. Both at the time of display and retrospectively, press responses to Hirst have been mixed: some, including Saatchi, (who famously displayed Hirst’s work at his gallery, and provided the funding for The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living), embraced Hirst’s bold approach, others6 accused him of cynically exploiting the press attention his ‘shock tactics’ gained him. Objections have also been levelled at him by those against the way in which animals are used in his work; from the horror of the rotting cow’s head to the death of butterflies in an exhibition (In and Out of Love7) in 1991 (recreated at the Tate retrospective in 2012). Tracey Emin has also found herself at the centre of controversy, most famously with her piece, My Bed8, an unmade bed complete with empty bottles of alcohol, worn underwear, cigarette ends and condoms. Like Hirst, Emin was caught up in the interminable debate about the character of conceptual art, and whether the ideas she used were appropriate for the public sphere: her art has drawn attention to abortion, self-harm class, sexuality and alcoholism9. Sarah Lucas10 has not gained as much recent media attention as her YBA contemporaries, but during the 90s and early 2000s shot to prominence with a series of provocative pieces exploring sexuality, sex and gender stereotyping. Whilst many admired her (Damien Hirst described her as "out there stripped to the mast like Turner in the storm, making excellent pieces over and over again"11), others considered her work shocking, or disgusting, with its frequent use of ordinary objects to represent human genitalia12. Jake and Dinos Chapman most recently caught the eye of the media when participating in an exhibition with a number of other artists, “Adventure land Golf” (Grundy Art Gallery). Their contribution was a Hitler statue, whose arm would give a Hitler salute every time a ball passed through its legs. This caused a degree of consternation, and Michael Samuels, of The Board of Deputies of British Jews said, "I am appalled that the gallery would stoop to show an item like this which, in my opinion, has got absolutely no artistic value whatsoever”13. The Chapman brothers have also produced a number of other controversial works, most famously Hell, a sculpture showing many toy figures and Nazi soldiers in a gruesome scene. Hell drew the praise of some14, who saw it as a modern piece in a line of great artists depicting horror and the grotesque, but the condemnation of others. Picasso produced Guernica15, arguably the most well-known of his works, and widely regarded as a modern masterpiece, as a swift reaction to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica (during the Spanish Civil War). At the time of its first display, however, initial reactions to the painting ranged from disgust (including, famously, that of a German officer searching Picasso’s apartment, who, finding a copy of Guernica, says “did you do this?”, to which Picasso replied, “no, you did”), through to indifference and condemnation on ‘artistic grounds’. It was seen as being too close to the event for a non-realist interpretation to be politically effective, and therefore acceptable. Jason Mecier16: This San Francisco-based artist, like the YBAs, uses ‘found objects’ in his art. He recently received a great deal of media attention when he included a mosaic of Whitney Houston made from pills in an exhibition shortly after her death. Whilst it is described by the artist as a “pill memorial”17, others found it tasteless. 1 Appleton, Josie, ‘Conceptual art’, spiked, 20 November 2003, http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006DFD9.htm 2 Nicholson, Octavia, ‘Young British Artists’, Grove Art Online, 2009, http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10220 3 ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Physical_Impossibility_of_Death_in_the_Mind_of_Someone_Living 4 Searle, Adrian, ‘Damian Hirst – review’, guardian.co.uk, 2 April 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/apr/02/damien-hirst-tate-review 5 ‘For the Love of God’, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God 6 Sewell, Brian, ‘Damien Hirst, Tate Modern – Brian Sewell’s review’, London Evening Standard, 5 April 2012, http://www.standard.co.uk/arts/visual-arts/damien-hirst-tate-modern--brian-sewells-review-7618751.html 7 Barkham, Patrick, ‘Damien Hirst’s butterflies: distressing but weirdly uplifting’, guardian.co.uk, 18 April 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/18/damien-hirst-butterflies-weirdly-uplifting 8 ‘Tracy Emin My Bed’, The Saatchi Gallery, http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/tracey_emin_my_bed.htm 9 Dorment, Richard, ‘Tracy Emin: Love Is What You Want, Hayward Gallery, review’, The Telegraph, 16 May 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/8517013/Tracey-Emin-Love-Is-What-You-Want-Hayward-Gallery-review.html 10 ‘Sarah Lucas’, Grove Art Online, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sarah-lucas-2643 11 Patterson, Christina, ‘Sarah Lucas: A Young British Artist grows up and speaks out’, The Independent, 21 July 2012, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/sarah-lucas-a-young-british-artist-grows-up-and-speaks-out- 7959882.html 12 Levey, Kathryn, ‘Sarah Lucas – Still Shocking In Tate Liverpool Exhibition’, Culture24, 16 November 2005, http://www.culture24.org.uk/places+to+go/north+west/liverpool/art31844 13 ‘Adolf Hitler golf art in Blackpool ‘tasteless’’, BBC News, 14 August 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire- 19254556 14 Jones, Jonathan, ‘The Chapman brothers’ Hell is the best art of our age’, guardian.co.uk, 23 February 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2009/feb/23/chapman-hell-art 15 ‘Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso’, Pablo Picasso, 2009, http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp 16 ‘Jason Mecier’, Jasonmercier.com, http://www.jasonmecier.com/ 17 Becknell, Vanessa, ‘Acclaimed Mosaic Artist Jason Mecier Sits Down to Talk Shop… (and the Whitneu Piece)’, Huffpost Arts & Culture, 7 March 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-becknell/acclaimed-mosaic-artist-j_b_1319704.html Amanda Moorghen For Just shock-tactics, at the cost of better art Point: Sometimes artists go too far in a bid to get their message across. Simply grabbing the headlines with shock tactics does not constitute art of the sort that should be receiving either public support or attention. It is important to recognise that public displays and funding of art are limited commodities, so every time one piece is chosen for an exhibition, or an artist is given money, this comes at the cost of other possible pieces of art. It is surely better to support those artists who have chosen to express their ideas and messages in a way that does not rely on simple attention-grabbing horror: it is surely more artistically meritorious to create a work that conveys its message in a way that rewards close attention and careful study, with layers of meaning and technique. Counterpoint: Who determines whether something is too disgusting? It is also hard to separate a piece of work’s artistic merit from its impact.