Art and Pornography: a Philosophical Investigation
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COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). Art and Pornography: A Philosophical Investigation by Emmanouel Maninakis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Magister Artium (Philosophy) in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG Johannesburg January 2019 Supervisor: Prof CF Botha Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof Catherine F. Botha, for her encouragement and for having the patience of a saint while helping me through the process of completing my thesis and providing me with invaluable insight and assistance. I would also like to extend my thanks to the University of Johannesburg Philosophy Department for the support and camaraderie the staff and my colleagues have given me over the years. I want to extend my thanks to my family for supporting me over the years. Firstly I would like to thank my father Nikolaos, who passed away recently, but who kept cheering me on to the very the end. Secondly, my mother Eftyhia, for always giving me the tough love I needed to hear and motivating me. Finally my brother Michael, who was always there to listen and provide me with encouragement. Your support has meant more to me than I can ever express. I also need to thank my friends Bram Van Eerden and Jan-Chris Holtzhausen for all the support and lifting me up whenever I faltered over the course of the years as I would not have completed my degree without you pushing me to keep going. Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Situating the Study: A Literature Review ........................................................................ 4 Outline of the Chapters ................................................................................................... 10 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................... 13 Chapter 1: Fifty Shades of Nay: Arguments against Pornography as Art ..................... 14 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 14 Key Concepts .................................................................................................................. 15 The Arguments Considered ........................................................................................... 19 a) Artistic Qualities .......................................................................................................... 19 b) Representational Content .......................................................................................... 24 c) Ethical and Feminist Concerns .................................................................................. 35 d) Other Arguments ........................................................................................................ 50 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 2: Fifty Shades of Yea: Arguments for Pornography as Art ............................. 61 The Arguments Considered ........................................................................................... 61 a) Artistic Qualities .......................................................................................................... 61 b) Representational Content .......................................................................................... 67 c) Feminist and Ethical Concerns .................................................................................. 70 d) Other Arguments ........................................................................................................ 81 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 3 Developing the Artworld ................................................................................... 87 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 87 Drawing out the Artworld ............................................................................................... 89 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 100 References ......................................................................................................................... 104 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse, (1896). ..................... 2 Figure 2: The Spear by Brett Murray (2010) ............................................................... 2 Figure 3: Francisco Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son, 1819–1823, Oil mural transferred to canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid ...................................................... 26 Figure 4: Piet Mondrian, No. VI / Composition No.II, 1920 ....................................... 27 Figure 5: A photograph of Exposición N° 1, 2007 by Guillermo Vargas ................... 37 Figure 6: Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, A photograph of the Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other installation, (2003). ................................................................................ 37 Figure 7: Derrick Cross by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1983 ........................................... 55 Figure 8: Lydia Cheng by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1987 ............................................. 56 Figure 9: Torsos and Sex Parts by Andy Warhol, (1977). ........................................ 57 Introduction Is there something essential to both art and pornography that makes them incompatible? Can something be both pornographic and artistic? Is there any philosophical reason that some pornography cannot also be art? What is the status of so-called erotic art? These interrelated questions form the basis for my dissertation investigating whether or not pornography can also be art. These questions are not purely theoretical but rather they have practical implications in contemporary times. In early 2018, a painting by John William Waterhouse titled Hylas and the Nymphs (1896) [Figure 1] was removed from the Manchester Art Gallery (Brown, 2018). This removal was, according to the director of the gallery (Brown, 2018), made with the aim of provoking public debate about the way that we display and interpret pieces of artwork. This specific painting was used to prompt debate because of the fact that it depicted the naked bodies of pubescent girls. The public debate that this removal caused had responses from across the spectrum. On the one hand, there were those who claimed that the removal amounted to unwarranted censorship, and yet on the other hand, there were those that felt that the removal was warranted and should be permanent (Brown, 2018). There was variation in the responses of those who wanted the painting removed permanently: some expressed concern that the painting objectified the female body and highlighted offensive female stereotypes, namely that of the Femme Fatal (Brown, 2018). Others, more strongly, claimed that this erotic painting was too pornographic to be displayed in an art gallery (Brown, 2018). 1 Figure 1: Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse, (1896). Another example is the case of the controversial painting The Spear (2010) [Figure 2]. This is a painting by Cape Town-based South African artist, Brett Murray, portraying the former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed. This painting immediately generated controversy with many calling the work disrespectful and pornographic with both Al Jazeera and The Guardian covering the controversy it caused (Page, 2012); (Smith, 2012). Figure 2: The Spear by Brett Murray (2010) 2 My aim in the dissertation is first to provide a discussion of some of the main contemporary arguments that have been presented for and against the notion that some pornography can be art. I then weigh these arguments against each other, by extracting the strengths and weaknesses of each position. Once I have provided an extensive discussion of both ends of the continuum, I develop my own position. My argument takes the following form: seeing pornography and art as exclusive categories is an unsupportable position. Rather, the two can be seen as existing on a continuum, with the position of a particular artefact/performance on that continuum being affected by a number of aesthetic, social, cultural, political and economic factors. I use a reading of Arthur Danto’s (1964) notion of the “artworld” to support my contention. Noël Carroll summarises Danto’s initial institutional definition of art as follows: something x is a work of art if and only if (1)